What's going to happen?
by heyyo
Summary: This is for those who were disappointed with Ryan Wolfe's character development this season. Explains why he is the way he is and the TEXT MESSAGE!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I cannot believe I'm actually writing one of these. But its summer and I'm bored as mess. Plus, I like character development, which we definitely didn't see in Ryan this season. UGH**

**So here you go. It pretty much stinks, but what do ya do…. Spoilers are for everything, including the season finale. I got bored and figured we need a background story for everyone's favorite character. Well, some people's.**

* * *

Ding Dong……

"This confirms that it IS blood…."

Dinnnnngggg Dong!

"H, give me a minute, I'm saving the world…."

BANG BANG BANG!

"AAA!" Ryan Wolfe screamed as he leapt out of bed. "Wha….dang it, it was another dream!" Glancing at the clock, he groaned seeing that it was 2: 47 AM, and he was probably not going to be able to go back to sleep. He finally realized someone was at the door, and went downstairs to check it. Being the careful person he was, he grabbed his gun and a bottle of disinfectant before opening the door.

He put the gun down. He didn't want to look stupid. Then he slowly opened the door and his eyes widened at what he saw. "Amy? What are you doing here? Does your dad know where you are?" He put the bottle of cleaner down and ushered her inside.

"Probably not…" the exhausted teenager said. At that moment, she pulled out a big plastic bag filled with prescription bottles and syringes.

"I need you to flush these," she said as she walked in.

He looked at the bag in bewilderment. "Are these yours?" he asked.

"Oh my gosh! NO! They're my…someone else's."

"Who do these belong to?" his tone becoming serious.

"My dad…" she said quietly.

Ryan then thought of his brother. He knew that he hadn't been quite right since his wife had died, but Ryan never imagined he would start using. It was then he noticed the bruise on his niece's face.

"How did that get there?"

Her eyes widened. "You know what, if you can just take these and like, turn them in or something, that would be great….Well, it's been…..well, I gotta go!"

As she turned to scurry out the door, he grabbed her by the arm and put the drugs on the floor. "I know you didn't come here in the middle of the night to dump some drugs on me and take off. Tell me what's going on. Did your dad hit you?"

"Look, this is the only time it's happened! He was drunk or something, I don't know. He totally freaked out on me, so I took his stash and booked it out of there….I didn't really know where else to go. He ran after my car, but stopped when he realized he couldn't chase it down the highway…."

Ryan stopped and thought of his brother running down the highway. He almost laughed, but then remembered the circumstances, and rubbed his sore eye. Then he thought of how his eye really wasn't that much better since the nail gun incident. Snapping back to reality, he said "So he doesn't know you're here?"

"I guess not. I just told him I was going to leave if he didn't quit. And he kept on using, so I left. While he was screaming at me, he said all of this is worth about 1200. I didn't want to throw this away, in case people like you find it in a dumpster with my fingerprints all over it."

"Ok, that probably wouldn't happen, but you made the right choice coming over here. Look, I have a guest room upstairs and it's late, so why don't you just sleep in there?"

"What if he comes here?" She said.

"Well I doubt he will, seeing as how you stole his car. But don't worry, the doors are locked and I've got a…..I'm a cop." He didn't want her to imagine her father being shot.

"Ok. I guess I could stay here. But tomorrow I'm….leaving the country!!"

He chuckled at her spur of the moment decision and said, "Alright, don't forget your passport. Now go to sleep, tomorrow's a school day."

She made a face remembering school the next day. "Whatever….see you in the morning… oh wait, um…thanks Uncle Ryan"

He looked at her and said, "Of course."

She went upstairs to the guest room and Ryan wondered whether she should go to school or not. What if John came after her there? He rubbed his eye and figured he would deal with it in the morning.

He saw a spot on the counter and started to rub it with a sponge. Wait, his eye was making the spot….he thought maybe he should at least _try_ to sleep. He grabbed his gun and went upstairs and lay down in his bed. Then he stared at the wall until his alarm went off at 6 AM.

* * *

**AN: Yay! I know, it was totally short…When I finished, I was like, dude, this is so long! Then I looked and saw it's pretty small. But whatever.**

**Word of advice, don't listen to Hakuna Matata while writing…**


	2. Next dayyyy

AN: Ok, I know that last chapter kinda sucked, so hopefully this one will be better

**AN: Ok, I know that last chapter kinda sucked, so hopefully this one will be better. And longer. ******** I have no knowledge of Miami or its geography, so bear with me. I just used stuff I've heard them say on the show.**

As Ryan started to get ready for work, many thoughts were swirling through his mind. He couldn't imagine his brother as a drug addict, no matter how hard he tried. An alcoholic? Maybe. He'd unfortunately inherited that from their father. But Ryan hadn't exactly been an angel himself; he got the gambling gene from the man. But that was a long time ago. Well, truthfully it had been only a few months, but Ryan quit gambling the day he lost his job. He felt so useless and stupid during the period he couldn't call himself a member of Miami-Dade CSI. Horatio managed to wrangle getting his job back though. He was so excited that day, until he ran into the morgue and found Alexx unconscious on the floor. Anyway, his mind was running.

He went into the hallway and peeked in the guestroom, since the door was open. His niece was lying on her stomach, snoring. She didn't need to go to school today. It wouldn't hurt staying somewhere safe. He didn't want to wake her up, so he left a note saying to make herself at home and he'd be home around six. That wasn't definite in his line of work though.

Ryan went downstairs and remembered the plastic bag of drugs. He decided to toss them in the toilet. No need for those to be around. After that, he rubbed his eye for a second and cleaned up his already immaculate kitchen. He never ate breakfast in the morning. He made that mistake once and ended up running outside and hurling at a crime scene. Even though he'd been at the CSI stuff a while, he always felt a tad queasy seeing mutilated bodies. Making sure all the doors and windows were locked, he walked out the door and hopped in his car.

Finally arriving at the lab, he went in and saw Calleigh Duquesne coming toward him. She was walking fast and furiously, her hair flying along with her mood.

"We've got a double homicide in the Gables, and we need to go now. I'll drive." With that, she flew past him.

He supposed this meant to follow her, so he did. She hadn't been outright mean to him since he was fired and re-hired, but he always felt tension. At least she acted better than Delko. Once you betray that guy's trust for a second, you're his worst enemy.

Ryan followed Calleigh out to the Hummer, and they started on their way to the crime scene.

"So…how's life?" He asked.

"Excuse me?" She replied

"I don't know. Just small talk I guess…"

After an awkward silence, he couldn't take it anymore, so he just started blabbering about anything he could think of. Aside from his family issues of course.

When he realized she wasn't saying anything back, he stopped abruptly in the middle of a sentence.

"Are you done?"

"Are you going to respond to anything I say?"

"Ryan, we're working and you're trying to socialize?"

"Like what you've been doing with Eric isn't socializing?" He immediately regretted saying it as soon as it came out.

She gasped and pulled over on the side of the road. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Like a scared rabbit, he replied, "I mean, I…. was…kidding!" He smiled and pretended to laugh like it was a joke, but Calleigh wasn't laughing. He quickly frowned and looked away.

She tried to look him square in the eye, but his eyes were darting all over the place. She said, "Look, it is not your place to speculate on Eric and me whether we're 'socializing' or not!"

"I know Calleigh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that. I just figured that you'd have some sort of response when I talk for 15 minutes straight…."

What almost looked like compassion flickered through her eyes for a moment went away as quickly as it came. "I just don't feel like talking this morning, "she said slowly and drove the car back on the road.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Sorry."

They rode in uncomfortable silence for 10 more minutes and arrived at the scene of the crime. Not looking at each other, the two CSIs walked into the house where a husband and wife had been shot.

Alexx was already there, explaining points of entry and other terms of medical jargon. After she was finished, Calleigh and Ryan went to different rooms and processed them.

"I found two casings over here. From different bullets," Calleigh stated.

"There's a fingerprint on the counter and three on the table. Could be the victim's, but I'll lift them," came Ryan's reply.

Finished with the scene, they loaded up the evidence and their kits into the Hummer. They unwillingly climbed inside and began their descent towards the lab. However, they talked about the case in the car, instead of going through more awkward silences.

Back at the lab, Calleigh walked as fast as she could to get away from Ryan and she mumbled something about being in the firearms lab. A red-haired man with sunglasses in his hand slowly walked up to him.

"Mr. Wolfe….." said Horatio Caine, "What have you found….at the house?"

Wishing his boss would call him by his first name, Ryan said, "Not much, we just got back. I have to run some fingerprints and Calleigh's in Firearms right now. She did find that two different guns were used to kill the couple though." He made sure to state specifically that she found that evidence, and not him. He didn't need anyone mad at him now.

"Sounds like this is….." Horatio started, "a double threat…" With that he walked away, slightly at an angle.

Ryan wondered for a moment why he had to be so dramatic, then shook it off and went to fingerprints, where Eric was waiting for him.

"Hey man, I've got some prints from the Smith house."

"Just put them on the counter," was the reply.

"So…..Calleigh's kinda in a funk today, do you know what's wrong?" Ryan asked.

"Is that any of your business?"

"I'm just….worried I guess."

"We're working and you want to socialize?"

Where had Ryan heard that before? He rubbed his eye and hoped the Cuban hadn't noticed.

"Just forget it. I'll be…I don't know."

He started to walk out the door when Eric said, "Wait, hang on just a second."

Ryan, hoping he would get an apology said, "Yes?"

"Are you sure your eye is better?" Compassion was actually in his voice.

"Are you sure your brain is?"

Oh my gosh, did he just say that? Why did he blurt stuff out like that? No wonder they never liked him as much as Speed. Something inside him wouldn't let him apologize, so he just stood there, with a stern look on his face. Why did he do this?

Eric looked as if he was about to jump across the table and attack him, but he said, "Just get out of here Ryan."

The younger one turned and left, mentally slapping himself. He figured maybe Calleigh cooled off, so he went to Firearms.

He walked in and said, "Hey do you have anything?"

"If I did Ryan, I would call you," she said in an annoyed tone. However, she noticed his hurt expression and said, "Ryan, I'm sorry, I've been really rude to you today because I'm distracted. I shouldn't have."

Smiling, Ryan said, "What? I haven't noticed."

She smiled herself and told him she had to do some more work but she was almost finished.

"I'll just…leave you alone then," said Ryan.

He stepped outside and pondered where he should go next. He couldn't go to fingerprints, that's for sure. Then he got a call on his cell phone.

"Wolfe,' he answered.

"Where's my stuff?"

"Who is this?" Even though Ryan figured it was his brother.

"Don't pretend you don't know! Quit playing dumb! I said, where's my stuff?"

"Are you referring to your drugs or your daughter?"

"She's at school or a friend's house, I don't know…But I do know she took all of my pills. And I'll bet you know where they are!"

"Well, right now they're probably in the Miami sewage system, but that's just me."

Surprisingly understanding his brother's sarcasm, John said, "YOU FLUSHED THEM? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT'S WORTH?"

Ryan, who was not in the mood for this, said, "Worth your daughter leaving home and you not knowing where she is?"

"I spent my last paycheck on that! I can't believe you!"

"You can't believe me?!" Ryan's voice was getting louder, "Your daughter had no where to go because her dad is a freaking junkie, so she wound up at my house at 3 in the morning! This is Miami, she could've been killed!"

"You're paying me back for flushing that stuff."

Ryan hung up and threw his cell phone across the hallway. When he turned around, he noticed Calleigh, with a surprised look on her face. What he didn't know was that she heard the whole conversation.

"Ryan, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I…had the results and you were on the phone so I..."

Ryan's expression turned from angry to slightly normal in half a second. She had seen him do it plenty of times. Trying to hide what just happened and rubbing his eye, he said, "What are the results?"

"Maybe you should take the day off or something..." Concern was in her voice.

"Calleigh, I'm fine! What are the results?"

She'd heard that one too.

"Um, one was from a rifle and the other from a handgun."

"Why would someone take two guns to kill people?"

"Maybe two different people were the murderers. It's possible they did it at different times. We should get Alexx to tell us TODs."

"Uh, yeah, I'll go talk to her. Will you see Delko about the fingerprints?"

She stared at him, wondering if she should tell Horatio about his phone call.

"Yeah, I'll go right now." She lied.

They went separate ways. Ryan, heading for the morgue, and Calleigh secretly finding their boss. She felt stupid for thinking she had problems. The only thing that happened was that she got in a fight with Jake about Eric. She barely knew anything about Ryan and his family. As she was thinking about it, she walked towards the front doors of the lab and noticed a disheveled man that looked like an older Ryan coming up the steps.

**Yay it's longer! And hopefully better! Tell me what you think!**


	3. It's a little complicated

**Hahaha the last chapter I forgot to edit it and when I put a smiley face it made a question mark. And it was messed up so…. :)**

**I almost added Speed in that chapter, and then I was like…wait a minute…**

**So the reviews made me smile, thanks!**

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Calleigh Duquesne thought for a minute about whether she should go outside and stop this guy from making a commotion. He had to be Ryan's brother who he was screaming at on the phone earlier. The man walked into the crime lab, and was looking around.

"Can I help you?" she asked sweetly.

"I really doubt it," he said sarcastically.

"Well, you can't just come in here and wander around. If there's something you need, you better tell me or leave." She wasn't the receptionist, but Calleigh figured no one else should see this guy.

"Well fine. I gotta see Ryan Wolfe." His eyes, same color as Ryan's, pierced into her with hate.

"He's busy. And he will stay that way for a while. So I suggest you leave."

He gave her a cold stare that secretly frightened her. As if on cue, Eric came to her side.

With a smile on his face, he said "Hey, you look kinda like…"

Calleigh interrupted, "Look, you need to leave and contact him on your own time."

The man mumbled something obscene and walked out. Eric turned to Calleigh.

"Who is that guy?"

"I think its Ryan's brother."

"You're not going to let the guy see his own brother? It could be important."

Calleigh laughed and rolled her eyes. She didn't think she should spread her colleague's drama with others, even if it was just Eric. "Ryan's just…busy."

"With what? He found the time to come in and be a jerk to me today." Eric retorted.

"He always finds time for that."

Eric, seeing that Calleigh didn't want to tell him what was going on, said, "Ok, never mind. I got results on the fingerprints from the Smith scene. The three belong to the male victim, but the single belongs to a Carlos Amarillo."

"Hmm. I guess we should bring him in. You tell Tripp and I'll get Ryan from the morgue."

As Eric walked away, she contemplated telling him what happened with Ryan later. She was going to tell Horatio about it, but the case had a lead, so now was not the time. She went to the morgue to grab Ryan and tell him about the prints.

Alexx was handing Ryan the bullets from the victims when Calleigh walked in. She overheard the ME saying, "…it's going to be fine, don't worry about her..."

Calleigh didn't want to eavesdrop again, so she quickly said, "Hey guys. We got a hit on one of the fingerprints, and we're bringing him in now, so you should come with me Ryan."

He felt a little weird around her, considering she heard his little phone argument from earlier. But he went with her.

Once they were out in the hallway, she decided to confront him.

"Ryan….I'm really sorry about hearing your conversation earlier, but…I think your brother came by here a minute ago."

He stood there looking at her for a minute. "What…What did he say?"

"He just wanted to see you, but I told him you were busy."

"I gotta….I need to talk to….Just call me when you test these or something." He handed the evidence bag to her and walked away. She just stood watching him leave. _What is going on?_

Ryan practically ran to Horatio's office. He swung open the door and didn't realize there was someone in the chair. "H, I need to talk to you!" he said breathlessly.

"Mr. Wolfe, is this vitally….important?"

"Yes!"

Horatio turned to his guest and excused himself. He went with Ryan into the hallway.

"Mr. Wolfe…what's going on?"

"My brother tried to come here and my niece is at my house and he's probably going to go there and hit her again and I don't know what to do!!" he said in one breath.

The Lieutenant, however, caught most of it. He was one of two people in the lab who knew about Ryan's family. The other being Alexx.

"Mr. Wolfe…"

"It's Ryan."

"Ok. Mr. Wolfe, I will send a patrol car over there to keep an eye on things. I want you to call her and tell her not to worry…… but to stay alert. I need you to work this case, it seems as though it's another…… Mala Noche hit." He exited with his head turned to the side.

Reluctantly, Ryan agreed and reached for his cell phone. Oh wait, it was on the ground across the hall from the firearms lab. He quickly went to retrieve it, without looking to harried. Eric caught him in the hall though, and he had to stop.

"Hey, I need to talk to you."

"Not now!" Ryan practically screamed and took off.

He finally reached his destination, put the battery back on his nearly broken phone, and dialed. As it rang, he rubbed his eye and saw 3 or 4 spots swirling around.

* * *

Amy Wolfe woke up around 12:30. Her cell phone rang the text message sound. She grunted and grabbed the phone.

_Hey, where r u? We have a test today!_

She looked around and forgot where she was for a moment. She looked at the bedside table and saw the note Ryan left for her. Then the events of the night before came slamming back into her head.

She had been threatening her father about leaving if he didn't get off the drugs. This had been going on for weeks, but she didn't do anything about it until last night. She woke up and walked into her living room to see a couple drug dealers whooping at her and decided she couldn't take it anymore. When they finally left, she snuck into her dad's room and grabbed his stash. He came in and saw her and hit her. He couldn't even talk in complete sentences he was so high. She swiped his keys and jumped in the car. She didn't know where she was going, but that didn't matter at the moment. He started running after the car, but stopped when she reached the highway. She drove around for hours and wound up at her uncle's house. Her first instinct was to go to the door, so she did. Good thing he woke up.

_I'm not coming today, _She texted in reply.

Soon after, her friend responded.

_R U OK?_

_I'm fine. I left my house last night._

_OMG! FR REALS?_

She laughed at her friend's lack of grammar, and continued.

_Yeah, went to my uncle's house._

_Should I skip and come see you?_

_I'm good, I swear._

All of a sudden, her phone rang, only the caller ID said Ryan Wolfe.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you ok?" Why does everyone keep asking that?

"Yeah…I'm fine, I just woke up. Look, I can be out of here once my friend gets home from school and I'll just stay at her house."

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, I'm sure people that come to your apartment will find it terribly uncool if you're taking care of a teenager. You didn't exactly sign up for a kid. I just showed up."

"What people? I mean… What does that matter? I can't just let my own niece run off and stay with a friend at a time like this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, you're not going anywhere. It's not like I have wild parties, Amy."

"Haha probably not! I mean….Ok, I guess I could stay." She hoped he didn't take that wrong.

"Good. There's going to be a cop outside making sure nobody tries to get in, OK?"

"Man, you really are overprotective…"

"Listen, your dad came by the lab today. I didn't talk to him and I don't know what he wants, but I'm just making sure he doesn't come after you, alright?"

"I'm sure he forgot I was related to him anyway…"

Ryan stopped for a minute. He felt bad for her, remembering that he too went through the same stuff with his own father. "He's just messed up right now. I'm sure he'll get better." He knew that probably wouldn't happen though.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Well, I'll see you when I get home from work. Call me if anything happens and don't open the door for anyone! Even if they're giving you a giant check and balloons!"

"Aw darn," she laughed at his worry, "I'll see you then."

When they hung up, Ryan sighed and turned around. There was Eric Delko staring him in the face.

"Well, Eric, I didn't realize you were invited to the conversation." He said, clearly annoyed everyone was eavesdropping today.

"Ryan, I'm sorry, I really had to talk to you and you kept going away so I followed you. I didn't want to interrupt you call…."

"Well what is it?"

"Maybe now isn't the time…"

Ryan was about to spout off about Eric's brain injury making him do stupid things, but managed to stop himself. He rubbed his eye and turned away from the man. The spots were getting bigger. Maybe it just came with stress. Eric grabbed him by the arm and turned him around.

"I mean, after work we should talk, do you..." But he was cut off by a commotion down the hallway. They both turned and looked to see Ryan's brother with a gun in his hand pointed towards them.

* * *

**AAA! What will happen?? Well, you'll have to wait. :) Hope you like it though. I'm having more fun with this than I thought! **


	4. revenge

**So I update this too much. But its summer and I'm bored. So HA!!**

**Oh yeah, I totally forgot the disclaimer: No, I don't own CSI: Miami. If I did, then it would run into the ground. :)**

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Ryan couldn't move. He couldn't think. All he saw was his own brother looking him straight in the eye pointing a gun at him. He heard the gun go off. The next thing he felt was Eric tackling him to the ground.

People were yelling and screaming, glass was broken, and everyone was running. Eric got up and screamed at him. Ryan thought, _"What did I do? I can't help that he came in here with a gun!"_

Then he realized. Eric's eyes were full of worry. He suddenly felt pain in his arm.

"Ryan! Listen to me!"

"What?"

"Are you OK?"

"….What?" He wasn't deaf; he just couldn't organize his thoughts. Eric pulled out his cell phone and told dispatch they needed to bring an ambulance.

"Am I dead?"

Eric looked at him funny and said, "Ryan, I think the bullet just grazed your shoulder but I called an ambulance."

Ryan looked at his arm and saw blood gushing from the wound. "AAAAAA!!"

His colleague rolled his eyes and said, "Chill out, you're going to be fine!"

Ryan was still confused about everything that happened, but he saw John bolt out of the door, with several armed people chasing him. A siren from an ambulance was heard in the distance. Calleigh came out of her lab and ran to Ryan's side.

"Is he OK?" She asked Eric.

"Yeah, the bullet just grazed his shoulder. There's an ambulance on the way."

"Do you know where the bullet went?" She couldn't help it.

"Back there somewhere," he said pointing, and then turned to Ryan, "Get up off the floor, you're not dying!"

Calleigh went to look for the bullet, and Ryan was surprised by Eric's coldness. Before he could think too much about it though, the EMTs came to his side. After questioning what happened, they put him in the ambulance and Eric rode along.

It was a slow day in the emergency room, so Ryan had his stitches done in half an hour. Eric was unusually quiet the whole time. Should he ask him what was going on with his brother? The two CSIs argued often, but Eric didn't hate him. He decided to talk to him when they were on their way back to the lab.

"How does it feel?" the Cuban asked.

Ryan, who was distracted, said, "Huh? Oh yeah…its fine I guess." He seemed a little more down than usual.

"Well, good thing it only hit your arm. If it was a few inches off we would have had a problem." He said with a smile.

"Yeah probably."

"So that guy is your brother?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry…"

"That's great." He said sarcastically. Here he was doing it again! Someone was concerned about him but all he can do is be rude!

"Ryan, I don't mean to pry, but why would he do that?"

"'Because I flushed his drugs."

"What?"

"You heard me." He really wasn't in the mood to discuss this with him.

"Well… what are you doing after work?"

"You asking me on a date, Delko?"

He rolled his eyes and said, "No, but I really think we should talk." He was sick of constantly being on bad terms with someone he worked with. After the nail gun incident they were friendly for a while, but fell back into the pattern of rude glances and snarky comments.

"I have to go home after work. My niece is staying with me and I don't think she should stay alone for long."

Eric guessed that now was not the time to be bringing up stuff while he was going through so many issues, so he left it alone. For now.

They finally arrived back at the lab, where Horatio was waiting for them.

"Mr. Wolfe….how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine H, I just want to get back to work." He started to walk away when the red head stopped him.

"I don't….I don't think that's a good idea."

"And why the heck is that?" He knew he was being rude, but he was not having a good day.

Horatio seemed to understand and said, "Well….I'm afraid Stetler wants to have a chat with you…"

"Well tell him to get his foot out of his…"

"Ok, I get it. I'll tell him to wait until tomorrow, but you can't avoid this……forever." He made his exit, but turned around and said, "I called your niece; she says she's….fine."

"Thanks H."

Ryan went to find Calleigh. Once he did, she asked him if he was OK. He just looked at her, so she changed the subject.

"Well, Carlos confessed. I'm not sure he's the guilty one though. But they uh…they couldn't catch your brother."

He sat down in a chair and stared at the floor with his head in his hands, and then rubbed his eye.

"I can't take this anymore…"

She sat next to him, but waited for him to talk. He was never one to tell anyone about himself or how he felt, so she didn't push it.

"We both promised we weren't going to be like our dad. But I guess neither of us have any will power…"

Calleigh wasn't sure at first what he was talking about. He didn't do drugs and he wasn't an alcoholic. Then she remembered the gambling. That had to be it. She didn't like being quiet for long, so she spoke up.

"Ryan, I don't know what happened with you and your dad, but I'm sure you're nothing like him."

"Not completely." He was still rubbing his eye, and Calleigh noticed.

"Is something wrong with your eye? Are you still having problems? I thought it cleared up!"

His face went back to 'normal' and he stood up. "It is cleared up. Nothing's wrong with it." He tried to change the subject, "Why do you think this guy isn't guilty?"

She knew he hated talking about his eye, but she was still worried. If she pressed on though, he might get mad and yell at her. She said, "He didn't seem to know much about the scene of the crime, but when we asked him if he killed the victims, he said yes. I have a feeling he's covering for one of the higher-ups."

"We should talk to him again."

"Natalia's on it right now. Ryan, I think you should go home and rest. You've had a pretty stressful day."

He gave her a death glare and was about to say something when she stopped him. "Never mind. Here's the case file." She got up and started to leave the room. She didn't feel like arguing with him again today.

"Wait, Calleigh!"

"What is it?"

"I……I can't see…"

* * *

Amy was bored out of her mind. She read for a while and texted her friend, but couldn't go anywhere because of the cop outside. He was for protection, but he wasn't a body guard. Ryan would be home in a few hours anyway. Hopefully. She remembered her call from Horatio about her father showing up and shooting her uncle. He was totally fine, his boss said. There's nothing to worry about. She couldn't help but wonder if her dad would try and find her as well. Surely not. He barely remembered her when they were at home anyway.

_Ding Dong_

Her heart skipped a beat. She went to the door and looked out the peephole. Her best friend was there with the police officer. Amy opened the door.

"Ma'am, do you know this young lady?" The officer asked.

"Yes. Let her come in."

The friend walked in as the officer went back to his car.

"Oh my GOSH that was weird!!" her friend Ashley said.

"Tell me about it. What are you doing here?"

"Well I thought you could use my protection but apparently not!"

"Ok, why are you really here?"

"I brought your homework. It took some negotiation though. Ugh! Those dumb teachers were trying to tell me you had to get your work yourself! So I raised heck and threatened to call the school board and Oprah. They gave it to me after that." She finished with a smile.

"Oprah?"

"I told them I knew her and could expose all of their faults on national television."

"Nice!" Amy said.

"Anything for my best friend. And ruffling the principal's feathers was fun too!"

"So what kind of homework is there?"

"I think those idiots gave you extra work for being out a day or so every other week. I don't remember Mr. Collins giving a thousand-word essay due tomorrow about the chemical composition of pencil lead." Her voice got more serious, "I didn't know whether I should tell them about your…dad or not."

"They don't need to know."

"Why? You can totally play the sympathy card!"

"They don't need to know anything about me. I don't want my grades defined by how weird my life is."

"You realize we are complete opposites?"

Amy laughed and said, "I've noticed. Thanks for getting this for me, I appreciate it."

"You'd probably be mad at me if I didn't."

"Well…….yeah!"

They both laughed and talked about random things at school. Amy met Ashley their first day of high school, and they instantly became best friends. Ashley was a little ditzy, but she never judged Amy for her family issues. They were sitting on the couch laughing when all of a sudden a gun shot went off right outside." What was that?" Ashley asked.

"Oh no…." Amy went to the window next to the door and sneakily peeked through the blinds. All she saw was the police officer slumped over in his car, blood coming from his head. She froze for a second and couldn't think. When she snapped back to reality, she ran around, turning off all the lights and making sure every lock was securely in place. She grabbed her phone and her quivering friend and darted up the steps. Bathroom? Closet? She chose the closet and threw Ashley in it. They covered themselves with clothes while Amy dialed the first number that came to her mind.

* * *

Calleigh was staring at Ryan in disbelief. "You what?"

Ryan, who looked close to tears, started, "I said I can't…" he was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He looked at the number and quickly answered.

"Wolfe"

"Usually people say hello…"

"Sorry. What's the matter?"

"Well…the cop outside was just shot in the head…" She tried to sound as cool as possible. Ashley was whisper-yelling to her and Ryan heard it.

"What? Where are you now? And who is that?"

"It's Ashley. She came over to give me my homework and we heard the sound outside so I looked out the window and saw it!"

"Where are you?!"

"In the closet… I made sure everything was locked and we're in here covered up"

"Look, stay there and be as quiet as possible. Put your phone on silent and if you hear anything don't even breathe! I'm coming right now and I'm going to get some cars over there OK?"

"Ok." Amy hung up and started to pray.

* * *

He closed his phone and practically flew out of the lab with Calleigh on his tail. He hastily explained everything to her on the way and she convinced him to let her drive. As they were running out, she managed to call 911 and Horatio to get cops there as soon as possible. They jumped in the car and took off. Calleigh glanced at him a few times and noticed his petrified expression. She hoped to God that his niece was ok.

They finally arrived at the same time as the patrol cars. However, when they pulled up to the front of the building, the front door was wide open.

* * *

**AAA! I'm getting nervous myself hahhahahaha**

**I almost added Speed again. I'm going to eventually mess up and add him lol**

**So…hope you like. Please review por favor!**


	5. Tired

**I know, the wait was so long!! Haha, 2 days man…**

**In response, the search feature hates people, so sometimes the story will come up and sometimes it won't. I don't know. I selected CSI: Miami and typed in "Ryan Wolfe text" and it came up. :) This chapter we get a character everyone has been wanting to see in the show! Well, everyone's wanted to see his niece, but there's another one!**

* * *

Ryan Wolfe's heart sank into his stomach. All of his muscles stiffened while his vision became even more blurry than before. He heard Calleigh say something to him and jump out of the car, with patrol officers and Horatio right behind her. Without knowing it, he had gotten out as well and was standing in the doorway, gun in hand. He already knew what happened. He didn't want to see it. This was another thing he had managed to screw up. His niece was one of the only people left in his world that didn't hate him; she was like a daughter to him. And now, because he couldn't get there in time, she would be dead in his own apartment.

"Clear!" he heard someone yell from the living room.

"Clear!" From the kitchen.

People ran up the stairs while Ryan sank to the floor. Even if they were alive, he could barely see and might mistake them for someone else.

* * *

Shortly after her phone call with her uncle, Amy cowered with Ashley in the closet. Then they heard a loud bang on the front door.

"Your uncle's here already?"

"Shut up! That's not him! Be quiet!"

The next sounds were confusing. Glass was broken, things were thrown around, and the sound they didn't want to hear was approaching. Whoever it was came up the stairs and threw some more things around and came to the closet door. He flung it open and took the clothes off the girls. So much for cover.

"What…" Amy started in disbelief, "Grandpa?"

"Where the heck is Ryan?"

"What are you doing here?" She didn't want her dad in there, but she definitely didn't want this guy here.

"Answer me!!" He pulled her out of the closet and held her by the throat against the wall.

Ashley was screaming her head off until 'grandpa' gave her a cold stare.

"I said where is Ryan?"

"I don't know!"

He tightened his grip around her throat. "_This is NOT how I'm going to die" _she thought.

Amy drew her fist back and punched the man as hard as she could on his eye. He screamed and fell back. He grabbed a lamp and attempted to throw it at her but then he heard the sirens. He flew out of the room and out of the house as quick as possible. Amy sat on the ground in shock. Ashley came to her side and said, "Are you ok? You totally just gave that dude a black eye!" Amy looked at her friend and started to cry.

The next thing they saw was patrolmen and a man with red hair. He turned and yelled to the people downstairs; "They're up here!" he looked back at them, "Are you two alright?"

"What?" Amy didn't know what to think at that point.

"Listen, my name is Horatio Caine. This officer here is going to take both of you to the hospital, ok?"

"I don't need to go to the hospital, I'm fine!" Amy yelled at him.

Helping them stand up, he said, "Ok then. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Her grandpa came in here and strangled her but she punched him in the eye and now he's gone!" Ashley chimed in with a wide-eyed expression.

Horatio told one of the patrol officers to search the area for any old guy with a hurt eye. Ryan suddenly appeared in the room and hugged his niece. He grabbed Ashley too in the process. Calleigh stepped in the room but stopped when she saw the family reunion.

Amy pulled away after a moment. "Look, I'm fine, nothing happened…Well, your dad came in and tried to kill me, but I'm fine. So is Ashley."

"My dad? Not your dad?"

"I think I can tell the difference between my father and grandfather, Ryan."

"But…I…he should still be in Boston…" Calleigh suddenly realized the real reason why they left the northeast. He must have moved along with his brother and his family.

"She punched him in the face! And he fell down! And then you guys came!" Ashley was still in shock.

"You punched him?" Ryan asked.

"Sorry…"

"Don't apologize. If you hadn't done that, he might have…killed you both."

Amy looked at the ground and nodded. She was proud of herself for being harshly defensive, but she was still scared. What happened to his gun? Did he still have it?

Ryan noticed the red marks on her neck. "You're going to the hospital."

"Ryan!" She pleaded.

"I don't want to hear it. Come on." He took her downstairs and out the door. Ashley was trailing close behind. But he stopped. He couldn't drive. He could barely see out of his right eye. Horatio came up behind him.

"Mr. Wolfe, I'll get one of the officers to take them to the ER. I need you to stay here…. and give me some information."

"H, I can't leave her alone after this."

"I'll send three officers to accompany them. They'll be fine."

Ryan complied; it's not like he could drive them anyway. He hugged Amy again and the girls went with the patrolmen. Horatio turned to him.

"This is technically a crime scene, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you….to the lab."

"What? Why can't I just go to the hospital with my niece?"

"I'm going to have Eric formally question you."

"About what? I didn't shoot that cop! I didn't come in here and strangle my niece!" He wondered what possible reason Horatio would send him to the lab…to talk to Eric of all people.

"Ryan, I need you to tell him everything you know about your father. We could use this to find him. After you're done with that….. you can see her."

Ryan was confused as to why his boss actually said his first name, but shook it off and said, "Fine. Whatever." He went to find Calleigh to drive him back. No one else knew he was half-blind yet, and he wasn't about to tell anyone else.

The ride back was quiet until they reached the lab. When they parked, she looked at him. He was staring out the window, and she wondered how much of it he could see.

"Ryan, when did this eye stuff start happening again?"

He sighed and said, "It came back after I got fired. It gets worse the more I rub it, but it's so sore! Today has been the worst though." He looked at his feet. It took everything he had to keep from crying. This day was not going very well.

"You really need to see a doctor, or you're going to lose your eyesight soon!"

"That's not important right now." With that, he opened the door and got out of the car. Calleigh sat and stared at him for a while. Ryan was not her favorite person in the world, but he had his good moments. She was beginning to understand now why he had so many bad ones.

Ryan walked into the lab and found Eric.

"Hey, H called me and said we need to…"

"I know. Let's get it over with."

They walked into an interrogation room and each took a seat.

"I can't believe you're interrogating me."

"I'm not. I'm questioning you. So I need you to tell me about your father."

"He's my father."

"And?"

"He lives in Boston."

"Ryan, you've got to give me better information than that. Why would he be in Miami?"

"To get me I guess."

"Why?"

"Let's just say he's not too fond of me." It was obvious there was so much more to the story, so Eric tried pushing him further.

"Why would that be?"

"He's never been."

"Look, you've got to quit being vague and give me the whole picture, or you and your niece could be in some serious trouble."

Ryan looked at the table. Slowly, he told him the story. "Fine. Um, my parents had always been totally normal before I was born. But my mom had diabetes. They took a chance having John, so they didn't want anymore kids. So I was a little unexpected. But I guess they figured they could take another chance." He stopped for a second. "She uh…she died giving birth to me."

Eric looked surprised. He had no idea that had happened. He thought Ryan was a jerk just to be one. But he guessed that's what happens to a person who's never known a mother. Maybe that was why he took to Alexx so quickly.

Ryan started again, "John told me that ever since then he's been a completely different person. He started drinking and gambling. I would have a babysitter before I started school from early morning until late at night when he came home. We weren't exactly close."

"Did he blame you for your mother's death?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry…."

"It's not your fault." He felt weird telling Eric this stuff. Horatio knew a little, but the only one who knew the situation to this extent was Alexx.

"Did he…beat you and your brother?" Eric didn't want to ask this question, but he knew he had to.

"….Yeah….. John moved out when he turned 18, but I went to live with my Uncle Ron when I was 16. When I was in college, John got married and had a kid, but they and my uncle moved here to be away from my dad. I stayed in Boston for a while after college, but I got sick of being near my father, so I came here."

"Have you had any contact with him since then?"

"He's called a few times in the last few weeks."

"What did he say?"

"I didn't answer and he never left any messages."

"Do you have his number? We might be able to track it."

Ryan handed the Cuban his phone. He didn't want to try and write anything, he was practically blind. Eric wrote the number down on a sheet of paper and called a tech to run it and give Horatio the coordinates. Ryan started to get up when he stopped him.

"One more thing Ryan."

"What?"

"Now I don't want you to get mad and storm out of here when I ask this."

Ryan sat back down.

"Is your eye ok?"

"…Why?"

"Its blood red and you keep rubbing it."

"Well I can't see out of it."

"What? Why didn't you tell anyone?! I'm taking you to an eye doctor NOW."

"Eric, I have more important things to take care of right now." Ryan stood and tried to leave, but Eric got up and grabbed him by the arm.

"I'm not going to let you go blind. It's my fault your eye is like this anyway."

"Please Eric; just let me deal with it tomorrow. I really need to get to the hospital." Ryan pleaded.

Eric stalled for a minute and looked at his colleague. For once he felt truly sorry for him.

"Alright. But I'm going to drive you. You don't need to run off the road today."

Ryan complied, and the rest of the day went fairly smooth. After getting Amy released from the hospital, Eric took them home, where his Uncle Ron and 3 police cars were waiting for them.

"Are you two ok? Why didn't anyone call me?"

"Well someone obviously did, because you're here now…" Ryan didn't mean to sound so rude, but he was exhausted.

Amy didn't feel like listening to any more people that day, so she went inside and went straight to bed.

"Well it's kinda strange to get a call from your nephew's boss about the troubles he's had."

"I know, I'm sorry. Today's just been…crazy…"

"Look, I'm staying with you tonight."

"There are three cops out here!"

"I know I'm not much for protection, but I think I should stay."

Ryan looked at him for a moment and said, "You're probably right."

* * *

LATER THAT NIGHT

Ryan tossed and turned and looked at the clock. 1:17. There was no way he would be able to sleep tonight. The counter still had that stain on it…

The next thing he knew, he was in his kitchen with a sponge scrubbing away at a permanent stain left by some unidentifiable substance. He tried putting on more soap every 15 scrubs, but it wasn't working. His eye was on fire. He was getting frustrated. For 30 minutes he scrubbed until he threw the sponge on the floor and contemplated stomping on it. But he picked it up and started to wash his hands. But every time he went to dry them, they felt contaminated again. What he didn't know was that his Uncle Ron was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Ryan what are you doing?"

He looked up quickly. "I uh…there was a spot on the counter and…"

"At two in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"You clean when you can't sleep? You never did get medicine for your OCD like I told you to, did you?"

Ryan looked away. "I got the medicine; I've just never…taken it."

His uncle was about to respond to this, but something else caught his attention. "What's wrong with your eye?"

"Nothing." Ryan tried to turn away so he wouldn't see.

"It's not nothing, it's all red, and you've been rubbing it!"

"I'll go to the eye doctor tomorrow."

"Looks like you should have gone a while ago. Ryan, why won't you ever do anything about your health?"

"I'm fine!"

"You call scrubbing a microscopic spot in the middle of the night while rubbing your nearly bleeding eyeball fine?"

"It was bothering me."

"The spot isn't what's really bothering you. You deal with your problems by cleaning things."

Ryan started pacing, "I don't have problems."

"Everyone has problems, Ryan. Are you scared about your dad being here?"

"I'm scared that he's going to try and hurt Amy again. I should've been here, or had her stay at a friend's or something…"

"You know it wasn't your fault."

Ryan thought of all the times he'd screwed up at CSI and would be treated worse than the others. Then he thought of his mother. "Well most things usually are."

Ron looked at him. Did he really think that?

"That's not true…"

Ryan started to walk up the stairs. "Never mind."

Ron watched his nephew walk up the stairs and thought of his mother. He hoped that's not what Ryan was talking about.

* * *

**Well, for some reason this took me forever to write this and at this point I can't tell if it's any good or not. Part of me says yes, but the other part says, wow you really shouldn't be given a keyboard…So let me know your thoughts. And I just figured out how to enable anonymous reviews! :)**

**Awesome.**


	6. Headaches

**Ha. I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. But I finished it late at night so I guess I was just tired. I don't think I can wait until September 22. UGH! BTW, I've made Ryan's dad's name George. In case you were wondering. Pretty soon I'll have Paul and Ringo haha!**

**Doesn't everyone love Ryan drama? Lol**

**Off topic: Did you hear Grissom is leaving CSI? AAA!**

* * *

Ron Wolfe went back to the couch and tried to sleep, but knew he couldn't. He wondered if Ryan really blamed himself for his own mother's death. He thought back to that day in the hospital so many years ago. Nobody knew whether to be happy or sad. His brother didn't even want to see his newborn son. The doctors kept telling her that she shouldn't have another baby, but she insisted. Ryan was a little unexpected, but she was going to love him all the same. Even if she wasn't around to see him.

Ryan's father had changed so much that day. He used to always have a happy disposition, but the moment his wife died, he was turned into another person. He started drinking and gambling. He even occasionally used drugs. There were many times when Ron had to take Ryan and John away, but George managed to get them back somehow. Eventually, Ryan went to live with him. Ron decided to have a talk with him in the morning.

Ryan somehow managed to fall asleep. He woke up around 9 o'clock and cursed under his breath about being late for work. But then he remembered he couldn't see. He walked downstairs and found his uncle.

"Amy wanted to go to school today. Your boss called and said there would be cars outside. He also said not to come today. They haven't found John or your dad yet."

Ryan groaned and sat at the table and laid his head down. He had a major headache.

"I think you should see an eye doctor today." He tried to say this as gently as possible; sometimes Ryan's temper wasn't the greatest.

"Probably." Ryan said with his head still on the table.

"I should take you."

"Probably."

"Like right now."

"Probab...right now?" His lifted his head up.

"You don't need to go blind, Ryan."

"Fine." He didn't feel like arguing with people about it anymore. So he got ready and they went to the eye doctor. Ron wanted to talk about the night before, but he changed his mind. Too much was going on.

* * *

"Mr. Wolfe, I'm afraid I don't have very good news."

"What is it?" He didn't want to hear it.

"You need surgery. If you would have come to me earlier this might not have happened."

Ryan put his head in his hands and asked, "When?"

"I can get you in surgery in three hours."

"Is there a possibility in won't work?"

The doctor said slowly, "About a 50/50 chance. But if you don't have the surgery now, you will definitely go completely blind in your right eye."

The next few hours were a blur to Ryan. Ron drove him to the hospital and tried to small-talk, but he wouldn't say anything back. The next thing he knew, the surgery was done and he was in a hospital room. Ron was talking to him again but he wasn't listening. He tried to think of other jobs he could take. The gun range wouldn't be a good plan. Would they take him back at the news station? No, a half-blind news anchor probably wouldn't look too good on television.

Before he could think more about it, Eric walked in the room. With his good eye, Ryan saw him and said, "What are you doing here?"

Ron said, "Weren't you listening? I told you I called him." He got up and left the room so they could speak in private.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm about to lose my job."

"It didn't work?"

"They won't know until they take the bandage off. If can see, yes. If I can't see, then it's time to look in the want-ads."

Eric frowned and looked down. They couldn't afford to lose such a good CSI. They barely made it without him when he got fired. "I uh….I just wanted to let you know that Horatio found your brother, but not your dad. He threw his cell phone in a dumpster."

Ryan didn't say anything, so he continued, "Your niece is still at school, safe."

"Good."

"Well…" Eric suddenly felt awkward, "I've got to get back to the lab, I hope you feel better." He started to walk away when Ryan called him back.

"Wait a minute."

"What?"

"Thanks for…coming by."

"Uh, yeah, of course man."

"I'm sorry I'm a butthead." He chuckled a little so Eric did the same.

"Don't worry about it. But I've really got to get back. Hope you feel better."

"Thanks."

Eric walked out of the hospital feeling better. Maybe he and Ryan would finally get along. Or maybe they just did when he was injured. But for now they were on good terms, and that's all Eric wanted. He had been so close to Speedle it was hard to be friends with his jerky replacement. He got in his car and started back to the lab when he got a call from Calleigh. He smiled when he saw the number, but realized it was probably work-related.

"Hello?"

"Hey Eric, are you out of the hospital yet?"

"Yeah. Wolfe just got out of surgery."

"Can he see?"

"They don't know yet. He's really worried about it."

"What are we going to do if he goes blind, Eric? It's not easy to replace someone like him."

"I don't know." Was she forgetting about Speed?

"Well, anyway, I called to tell you that Ryan's brother knows where their dad is, but isn't saying anything. I was wondering if you wanted to have a crack at him."

He smiled and said, "Aw, you know me so well."

She laughed and responded, "Alright, I'll hold him in the interrogation room for you. So hurry up and get here. I lov… Bye!" She hung up quickly before he could respond.

"Did she really almost say what I think she said?" He asked himself. He laughed a little and drove on.

He arrived at the lab, and Calleigh was waiting in the hall for him. She couldn't look him in the eye and her face was red. He'd never seen her embarrassed before.

"So, he's in the interrogation room right over there."

He stood and looked at her for a minute to see how nervous she would get, and said, "Thanks Cal." He was tempted to tease her and tell her that he loves her too, but more pressing matters were at hand.

Eric walked into the interrogation room and saw the man from yesterday who shot his colleague. He didn't care right now if it was Ryan's brother. He was pissed.

"Hey, I recognize you." John said.

"Yeah that's nice. Look, I'm going to be frank. Where's your father?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He asked in the same tone Ryan would use that got on Eric's nerves so bad.

"He tried to kill your daughter yesterday!"

"That chick over there told me the same story."

"If you don't tell me right now we can charge you for obstruction of justice."

"I'm already going to be in jail for shooting a cop anyway."

"That 'cop' was your brother!" Eric was angry that he was so nonchalant.

"Good call, Sherlock."

"And you just don't care?"

"He flushed my drugs! Do you know how expensive that stuff was? And I just bought it!"

"Where's your dad?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Is he planning something against Ryan?"

John just sat back in his chair and looked at the man.

"Answer me!"

"I want a lawyer."

"Tell me where he is."

"I don't have to answer any of your questions, you know."

Eric gave up and walked back outside, slamming the door. Calleigh walked up to him. She was still a little embarrassed, but it seemed she was getting over it.

"Well?"

"Nothing. He's exercising his rights."

"Well on the bright side we've got one of them."

"Yeah…. I can't believe he doesn't even care his own daughter was almost killed yesterday."

"How is it so hard to believe? We deal with these kinds of things everyday."

"I guess it's because it's all happening to Ryan." He looked at her and she finally made eye contact. They stood looking at each other for a moment until Horatio came up and interrupted.

"Do we have anything?" He said, standing to the side.

"No, the brother's not talking." Eric said, a little disappointed about the interruption.

"Big surprise there…I want you two to find his father as soon as possible."

"We're on it." He said. Now he was secretly excited he was going to be working with Calleigh. They went to Frank Tripp's office space and asked him to do a background check on George Wolfe.

* * *

Ryan was still sitting in his hospital bed, trying to not to think about the past few days. His Uncle Ron finally stopped in his attempts at small talk and read a magazine. Suddenly, Ryan's cell phone rang.

"Wolfe." He groggily answered.

"Are you alone?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Not exactly…."

"Then get away from whoever you're around. Now."

Ryan recognized the voice all too well. Since he moved from Boston he was hoping to never hear it again. He didn't want his uncle to worry, so he covered the speaker and told him it was a call from work about an open case. Ron nodded and stepped outside.

"What the heck do you want?"

"I have a deal for you."

"Is it optional?"

"If you don't go along with it I'll make sure Amy gets killed right in front of you."

Ryan's blood went cold. "You wouldn't do that."

"Don't test me."

He knew that his father was fully capable of doing so, so he asked, "What do you want?"

"I have a friend here in Miami. This cop's been harassing him. He needs him taken care of."

"You want me to kill a cop? Can't you get someone else to do that?"

"My friend is going to make the hit. You're on the inside at the police department, so you need to make sure he doesn't get caught."

Ryan didn't know what to think. "Who's the cop?"

"Horatio Caine."

"Wha…Dad! That's my boss!"

"Ain't that sweet."

"You want me to kill him?"

"No, stupid, I told you to cover it up. My friend has been working with a Cuban boy named Ortega. They have these special bullets that go through bullet-proof vests and everything. He also knows this undercover guy who's really working on our side."

Ryan was in shock. "How do you suppose I cover up my boss's murder?"

"You're the college boy, you figure it out."

"I can't do this!"

"Then Amy's going to die. And I'll make sure you're there to watch."

He could NOT let that happen. "Alright alright! When is he…going to do it?"

"Soon. I'll have him give you a ring. Oh and Ryan?"

"What?" He sounded defeated.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill her and THEN you. And you know I can."

"I get it…"

George hung up, and Ryan closed his phone. He couldn't believe this was happening. He couldn't be in on killing Horatio! But he couldn't let Amy die, no matter how important his boss was to him. He couldn't even work out a plan with his colleagues where they would get arrested and nobody would get hurt. He knew his father could plan a hit from jail. He had done it before.

He started to think. Who was this guy with such a huge grudge on H? Then it hit him. Ron Sarris. He kept hearing things about how this guy was escaping from crimes he committed. But what about that undercover cop? The only one that really knew Horatio was Jake Berkley. Eric told Ryan once that he didn't trust him, but he figured that was because of Calleigh.

Ron walked back in. "I can't believe you're taking calls from work right now."

"Tell me about it."

"Is something wrong?"

He looked at his uncle and wanted to tell him so badly what just happened, but he couldn't. He didn't want his niece to die. "I'm fine." That was apparently his favorite line.

Ron wasn't in the mood to argue with him, so he changed the subject. "Well, the doctor said he's going to take the bandage off in an hour. Amy and an army of policemen are on their way from the school."

"That's good." Ryan looked on the verge of tears, even though it stung in his right eye. Everything was going wrong…

* * *

**Woo! So I think I like this one. Oh, I totally forgot to mention: This story is set between 'Raising Caine' and 'You may now kill the bride.' (During the writer's strike!) Sorry if I get a few details wrong, it's been a while since I've seen the episodes! I figured we need to have a really good back story behind the text message. I bet "It's Done" will turn out to be Calleigh telling him the interrogation was done. Or him placing a bet. Whatever. Or his mom telling him the roast is done... Yeah. That'll probably be it.  
**


	7. Aw

**That chapter was sad. Well, get ready for another sad one! HA!**

* * *

Ryan sat there for a while. Every time he thought of his father he got sick to his stomach. So he decided to think of the complete opposite. He turned to his uncle and said, "Uncle Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about my mom." Ron looked at him carefully. This was a subject Ryan never wanted to talk about. He never asked about her and wouldn't let anyone talk about her.

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh huh."

"Oh wow Ryan….I don't know where to start. Um, well, everyone loved her. She was probably the nicest person I've ever met. She was really smart, like you. She had diabetes, but she never let that stop her. After her and your dad got married, she was determined to have a baby." He smiled and said, "The doctors told her not to, but it was like Steel Magnolias all over again. Set in Boston. Ten years earlier."

Ryan smiled for the first time in a while and said, "What else?"

Ron started again. "Well, she nearly died after having your brother. But she said it was all worth it. Your dad…was a little freaked out and didn't want to risk it again. Five years later though, they found out you were going to come along. She was so ecstatic…" Ron stopped. He wondered if he should keep going.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. She loved kids. The doctors told her to…give you up, but she hated the thought of that."

"What happened when I was born?"

This was what he didn't want to answer. "Well, me and your dad and her two sisters were in the room, and at that point she was…winding down. She stayed awake long enough to hold you for a minute though."

Ryan looked away and thought for a second. "I didn't know that." His voice was quiet.

"Yeah, you stopped crying as soon as you were in her arms. I don't think I've ever seen her smile that much."

Ryan smiled himself, but it faded and he asked, "She has sisters?"

"Yes."

"Why haven't I met them?"

"Ryan, I'm going to have to tell you the truth on this one…they…sorta blamed you for her dying. But it's not your fault, you have to remember that. She made the choice."

"I never met them…"

"They weren't worth it, Ryan. Anyone who thinks those things is insane."

"I didn't even know they existed. Did she have more family that won't talk to me?"

Ron couldn't look at his nephew. He figured this day would come, but he was not looking forward to it. "Yeah… I'm sorry Ryan, no one should have to put up with this."

Ryan didn't say anything else, so he continued. "Well, anyway, when she was pregnant with you, she knew she wasn't going to make it so she wrote you a letter."

"What does it say?"

"I don't know. I never opened it. I saw it in the trash one day when your dad was cleaning his house." He didn't mean to say that part. "I still have it. I just figured I should wait until you wanted to talk about her."

"Thanks." Ryan looked like he was about to cry again, but shook it off somehow.

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Amy was in a police car on her way to the hospital. When she found out Ryan was having emergency eye surgery, she had been praying non-stop. He had too much going wrong for him at this point. He would be completely miserable if he lost his job. He loved being a cop. Especially a CSI. She looked at the patrol officer that was driving.

"Can we turn the lights on?"

"No." He didn't have any expression on his face.

"The siren?"

"Negative."

"What are you, the terminator?"

He shot her a glance and she stared back at him.

"There is no need for foolishness like that. Those are precautionary measures."

"Well fine. Be boring."

The rest of the ride was full of awkward silence. Amy tried reaching for the radio several times, but he kept smacking her hand. When they finally reached the hospital, she leapt out of the car, and the officer took off after her.

"Young lady! I am to be protecting you!"

She ran from him anyway. Then she realized she didn't know where to go. So she stopped with Terminator grabbing her by the arm. "We go this way."

"Let go of me!"

"No! You will run again! It's my job to protect you!" They were making a commotion. Everyone around them stopped and stared.

Amy looked at the crowd and said, "It's ok, he's a robot underneath his skin!" She knocked on his head. He looked as if he was about to explode.

"Amy WHAT are you doing?" said a voice from behind. She turned and saw Ron in the hallway.

"Uhhh…."

"Come on, Ryan wants to see you."

The cop walked up to Ron and said, "The subject is safe sir!"

"Thanks?"

Amy walked with Ron to the room Ryan was in, and they walked in. He was asleep.

"Well, I think he's asleep, Ron."

"You're feeling extra sarcastic today, aren't you?"

"I've had a long day. I needed some entertainment."

A doctor walked in and said, "Well, it's time to take the bandage off."

* * *

Eric and Calleigh were looking over Frank's shoulders as he slowly typed in 'George Wolfe.'

"Says here he's been arrested several times, but no convictions 'cause there wasn't enough evidence." He said in his Texan drawl.

"Any reason he's in Miami?" Calleigh asked.

"Got plane ticket info that says he's been here the last two weeks, but hasn't flown out. I can't get any hotel information though. No credit card stuff either."

Eric looked at Calleigh and said, "He's probably staying with someone he knows here. That won't get us very far."

"I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do until he makes contact with someone. You think he'll call Ryan again?"

"I don't know. I wish he would so we could try to find him, but I wish he wouldn't for Ryan's sake." Eric said.

They walked down the hallway and into the break room. "Well what should we do now? We have no where to go from here."

"What are you doing after work?" She asked.

"What?" Wasn't she with Jake? Was this really happening?

"I figured we should go see Ryan and see if he's ok."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, we should do that." He was disappointed, but they really needed to check up on their colleague.

* * *

"Mr. Wolfe?" The doctor shook his shoulder.

"BAA!" Ryan jumped and woke up, startling everyone in the room. "Wha….sorry, I was…"

"It's ok. It's time to take the bandage off now."

Ryan felt his stomach flip flop. All the nervous thoughts came rushing back into his head. What if he couldn't see? He would lose his job! He needed to wash his hands….

The doctor slowly took the bandages off to reveal a very irritated eye. "Ok, I'm holding up a card that has some words on it. Cover up your left eye and see if you can read them."

Ryan opened his sore eyeball, and looked at the card. "The quick brown fox jumped over the…Oh my gosh! I can see!"

Everyone sighed a sigh of relief and Amy went to hug him. "Thank GOD!" she said.

"This is very great news, Mr. Wolfe. You're very lucky. But from now on, you need to have eye check-ups regularly."

"Oh I definitely will." He said. One thing to scratch off his list of worries.

Soon he was released and they were on their way home, with the squad cars following close behind. Ron called Horatio to tell him the good news, so the information got to Calleigh and Eric, who were waiting outside his apartment. They quickly made sure everything was alright, and then took their exit. Ron turned to Ryan and said, "Well, if you're not blind, I think you can handle things here by yourself."

Ryan smiled and said, "Yeah, I think I can."

"Ryan?"

"What?"

"Don't clean things when you're anxious."

"I…well, I'll try not too."

"I have something for you."

"What's that?"

Ron went to his car and handed him a letter that said 'Ryan' on it.

"Is this….?"

"Yeah."

He looked up at him and said, "I appreciate it."

They said their goodbyes, and Ryan went inside. He didn't want to read it just yet, so he set it in his bedroom. Later on, he half- argued with Amy about her homework.

"But I don't _need_ chemistry! No one does!"

"Amy, I use it every day!"

"But I don't need it now! I don't know what I want to be! What if I'm a garbage man? Huh? They'll be mad they wasted time on teaching me this junk!"

"You're only balancing equations. And you're not going to be a garbage man…woman. Whatever."

"It's still stupid. I get all As except in this class!"

"Then it's your weak point and you need to work harder at it."

She looked at him and scoffed. "I don't _have_ weak points."

They playfully argued for a while after that, and then he went to his room. He sat on the bed and grabbed the letter. He stared at the front of it for a while. He was afraid of opening it, but didn't know why. Finally, after staring at it for half an hour, he opened it.

_Dear Ryan, _This was going to be difficult.

_If you're reading this letter, I've already gone. You're due in a few days, but the doctors are telling me I'm not going to make it. I want you to know that I loved you since I knew you existed, and I'm always going to love you. I'm sorry I can't be there for you longer. I felt that you deserved to live. I always wanted two children, and God blessed me with it. Please don't blame yourself for me dying, no matter what anyone says. It's my choice, because I love you._

_Treat your brother well, he loves you too. Always do your best. I want to tell you to brush your teeth and wash behind your ears, but I'm sure your dad will take care of that. _

_If I can hold you for just one second when you're born, I'll feel like everything is complete. I wish I could stay around so you can have a mother, but I'm afraid that's not possible. Your dad and his brother and my sisters will be there for you because they love you too. Always remember me, and I know I'll see you someday._

_Love, your mother._

Ryan read the letter 3 times and realized he was doing something he hadn't done in years. He was crying.

* * *

**Are YOU crying?**

**MAN! That was sad. The last few sentences I was like, man, I'm gonna cry! AAA! I resisted it though. Barely… hahahahaha**


	8. Secrets

**I can barely read that last chapter without crying, and I wrote the thing! HAHA! I'm so mean to Ryan, but hey, I wanted a good reason for him to be such a jerk sometimes. It also seems like his character was a little different after the strike... I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I'll stinking make it intentional!!**

**Reviewshappinessmore updates! I update like everyday, but whatever. Oh, and in my world you can get over eyeball surgery in a day. :)**

* * *

Ryan ended up quietly crying himself to sleep. Years of built-up emotions had finally come to surface. He suddenly remembered everything that he had tried to not be emotional about. He cried about his mom, his dad, John, never fitting in at CSI, his OCD, his eye, Amy almost getting killed…

He woke up that morning to his alarm at 6 AM as usual. His eyes felt weird. He knew he should probably take some time off, but he hated doing that. He always felt so useless on his days off. So he got ready and met Amy downstairs, but she was on her way out the door to go to school.

She stopped and said, "You're going to work today?"

"I don't feel like sitting here doing nothing."

"Ok, well…" A horn beeped outside. "Ashley's here. I'll see you later!"

"Be careful."

"I'll make sure to duck after I slap my chemistry teacher."

He rolled his eyes as she walked out the door. He wondered if she hid behind a façade as well. He looked around and noticed the mess she made in the kitchen. Well she certainly didn't have OCD. He cleaned it up and went to work.

As soon as he got there, Horatio found him. "Mr. Wolfe….."

"Hey H."

"Are you sure you're up to working today?"

"I'm fine. For real this time."

"Well, your brother…..your brother is requesting to see you…."

"What?"

"I think you should go… Just be back in an hour." He made his exit and Ryan still stood there. Eventually he made his way back to his car and slowly drove towards the jail. What in the world could he possibly want? Was he in on their father's plan? Did he want to talk about Amy?

Soon he found himself sitting in a booth with a telephone next to him. Two guards led his older brother to sit across from him on the other side of the glass. They each grabbed the phones and stared at each other for a moment. John looked worse than ever, and Ryan guessed he was going through withdrawal.

"So…" Ryan didn't know what to say. He'd never seen his brother like this.

"They're gonna put me in a prisoner rehab place today."

"That's good."

"I don't want to go."

"I think you need to."

"And why the heck is that?"

"Oh, well that's a hard one. Let's see, how about putting your daughter's life in danger more than once and shooting a cop for starters."

John looked down. He almost looked sorry for what he had done, but said, "Whatever."

Ryan changed the subject. "Why did you want me here?"

"Did Dad call you?"

Ryan felt sick again. "Yeah."

"I'm in on it too."

"Why?"

"I don't really know what I have to do yet. He wants me to be ears around the jail or something. But if I don't he'll kill me."

"Are you going to do what he tells you to?"

"I don't want to die Ryan."

"You've been doing drugs and now you're suddenly afraid of dying?"

"I'd rather die from that then by him."

Ryan sighed. "I…guess I can understand that…"

"Ryan…. I really don't want to do whatever this is."

"Trust me, I don't either. I'm going to lose my job and go to jail. But if I don't…yeah." Even if his brother didn't care about Amy, he felt he should leave out the detail about her being killed.

"Is Amy still staying with you?"

Ryan came close to yelling at him for finally being concerned about his daughter, but he didn't have the energy. "Yeah."

A guard walked up and told John to hurry it up.

"Well…thanks…"

Ryan quickly changed the subject. "Do you blame me for mom dying?"

John's mouth was wide open. "What? Ryan…"

"Just tell me."

"No… I've never thought that. I know Dad used to, but it was never your fault, Ryan."

Ryan was surprised about this." Thanks."

"Will you like…visit me in rehab?"

He looked at him carefully. "If you want me to."

"I do."

The guard came and took John away. Ryan slowly went to his car and drove back to the lab. His brother was mixed up, but he had seen a trace of his old self in him. Ever since John's wife died in a car wreck two years before, he had been…different. Ryan never thought his brother would use drugs or hit his own kid. He was starting to turn into their father. Would the same thing happen to himself?

He walked into the trace lab and found Calleigh.

"Find out anything else about Carlos Amarillo?"

She had her face buried in a case file and apparently didn't hear him.

"Calleigh?" He waited. "Calleigh!"

She looked up suddenly. She did not look like she was in the mood to talk. Her normally bright face was twisted into a frown. "What is it Ryan?"

"Are you ok?"

She brushed off his question and said, "Someone came forward in the Amarillo case and said that he's covering for someone. We were right."

He persisted. "Calleigh, what's wrong?"

She rubbed her eyes and said, "Jake saw Eric and me in the car yesterday and thought we were…I don't know. But he freaked out. I tried to tell him it was work-related, but he's too stubborn."

"Did you….break up with him?"

"We should really focus on the case now." She said it, but she wanted him to ask more. Calleigh wasn't the type to share her feelings, but if she wanted to, she managed to get someone to ask.

He gave up. "Ok. Well, who called and gave the information?"

She looked at him and wondered if he had any feelings at all. Well, she couldn't blame him; he did have a crappy last few days. "You won't believe it, but it was Ron Sarris."

Ryan's stomach did somersaults. "Why would he do that?"

"I think he's up to something, like he's trying look like the good guy. We should have a talk with him."

He hesitated and said," I… don't think that's a good idea." That was it. It had started...

"Why not?"

"We uh….we shouldn't worry about it, he did us a favor."

"Ryan, he could be doing this to cover up something he did or will do that's much worse!"

_He is_, he thought. "We're going to question Carlos again, and that's it, ok?"

She looked at him funny and said, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

_Yes._ He looked all over the room and said, "No. I just don't think we should…waste our time."

"Waste our time? We have practically no open cases right now!"

"Calleigh, please, just do me a favor."

"I'll do you favors but not when it pertains to a case. Is something going on? Oh my God, this isn't about gambling, is it?"

"What? No! I just….I can't explain it right now."

"So there is something going on!"

His stomach had flipped so many times it was sore. "Just this once, Calleigh. If anything happens I'll take the blame."

"He's a potential murderer Ryan. I can't just let him go free because you need a favor." She was angry.

"He didn't murder the couple in the Gables. I can tell you that." He didn't know if it was true or not, but it was all he could do for the moment.

He looked more scared then she had ever seen him. It took everything inside of her not to run to Horatio and tell him what was going on. But he was so terrified… "Look, I won't do anything about him right now, but you're going to have to explain this to me sooner or later."

Unfortunately he'd be having to explain it to a judge and jury fairly soon. "Thank you Calleigh, you saved my life…literally." Woops. He didn't mean to say the last word.

"Is he threatening you?"

"Nope. Let's go talk to Carlos." He tried to scurry out of there as quickly as possible, but she jumped up and grabbed his arm.

"He's on his way from the jail now. Sit down and talk to me."

"Calleigh, if I do…." His stomach finally caught up with him and he ran to the bathroom to throw up. She ran after him, not realizing he was about to barf.

As he ran in the men's room, she shouted from outside the door, "Ryan! We're not in elementary school!"

Eric noticed the commotion and came to her side. Trying not to laugh, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Get Ryan out of there! He's acting like a child!"

Eric walked in and quickly walked out. "Calleigh, he's throwing up."

"Oh…well…I'll just wait for him to finish then."

Eric laughed and went about his business. A few minutes later, Ryan came out of the bathroom and almost bumped into Calleigh. "I had a…breakfast burrito?'

"I know you don't eat breakfast. Tell me what's going on now, or I'm going to tell Horatio you want to protect a suspect."

"Calleigh…." He pleaded.

"Tell me."

He took her by the arm and led her into a supply closet. He flipped on the light switch and closed the door. He looked at her and noticed her freaked-out look.

"Ryan, we're friends and all, but don't you think this is pushing it?"

He ignored her question and said," Look, if I don't cover for Sarris my dad's gonna kill Amy. And if I tell anybody he'll kill me too. So if you don't keep your mouth shut I'll be dead soon. And so will my niece." Calleigh was a little scared by his threatening tone, though he used it plenty of times before.

"Why is your dad connected to Ron Sarris?"

"I don't know."

"Is there anything else?"

"No." That was a lie. "Promise you won't say anything?"

"Can't we work something out with Horatio where he gets arrested or something?"

"You don't know what this guy is capable of Calleigh…"

"Well we can't just let a suspect go!"

'We're going to have to."

"We both could lose our jobs because of this."

Ryan was going to lose his anyway. "I'd rather lose my job than see my niece get murdered."

"Ok…Look, I will _try_ and go along with this as long as I can, only because of you. But if anything happens, you're going to have to take the heat."

"Fine. Tell them I held a gun to your head, I don't care." At that moment, the closet door swung open to reveal Jake Berkley.

"I need to talk to you."

"What do you want?" Calleigh asked.

"Not you!" Jake said rather rudely.

Ryan then realized that it was Jake who was the dirty cop in the whole deal. Jake dragged him out of the closet and into an interrogation room. With walls that weren't made of glass.

"What do you want?"

"You know why I'm here."

"To see Calleigh?"

"Cute. Look, your dad doesn't want any suspicion on him and the cops are already on his tail, so he can't call you. I'm going to be coming by here more often so they don't notice anything. You need to give me info on what they're doing with Sarris. I'll also be telling you what to do." He ended with a smug look on his face.

Ryan got up to his face and said, "Nobody tells me what to do."

"You want your niece to die? Don't think I can't pull it off, man. I've got people watching her every move." He looked at his watch. "Right now she should be at school. In history class."

Ryan lost his cool and shoved him against a wall. "If you lay a hand on her, I swear I will…"

Jake cut him off and said, "You won't do anything because I got people on you too. You think of trying anything funny and I'll make you watch when I grab Amy and rip off all her cl…"

Horatio flung open the door right as Ryan punched the 'undercover cop.' Jake fell on the floor and held a hand to his head. "Is there a problem gentleman?" Horatio asked. Calleigh came running and stopped when she saw Jake on the floor.

Jake mumbled something and pushed past Horatio and Calleigh. "What in the world was that about?" she asked.

"He….said I owe him twenty bucks but I don't." How many lies was he going to get tangled up in?

"In the future Mr. Wolfe, keep your financial situations…. at other locations." Horatio reached for his sunglasses, but then realized he was inside. He frowned and walked away at an angle.

Calleigh came further into the room. She whispered, "Is he in this thing too?"

"Shh! Yes he is, but don't breathe a word of it to anyone, Calleigh. I mean anyone!" He whispered back. He walked past her and went to the bathroom and washed his hands four times until Eric came in.

"Heard you punched out Berkley."

"How does this stuff get around so fast?"

"Any particular reason you did it?"

"He deserved it…" Ryan mumbled.

"Well I know that, but…are you interested in Calleigh or something?" He had a little uneasiness in his voice.

Ryan wanted to laugh, but under the circumstances, he couldn't force one out. "What? No…I could only see her as a friend. Plus, I've seen you two eyeballing each other like crazy."

Eric tried to hide his smile and Ryan could swear he blushed a little. "Well anyway, I was worried about it; I just wanted to see if anything was going on."

Ryan quickly turned back to the sink and said, "No."

"You're a really bad liar."

"Thanks."

"Ok, I can understand you don't want to talk about it. I just…if you need anything I'm here for you, alright?"

"I appreciate it Eric."

The older CSI left and Ryan locked the door and sat on the ground. He put his head in his hands. If Jake got a hold of Amy…

* * *

**AAA! So that was a little intense! And there was foreshadowing!! Ooo! You probably won't get in until the end though. But whatever. Please comment!**


	9. Realizations

**Aw, your reviews make me want to write more. :)**

**Apparently fanfiction doesn't like equals signs either. So if you see anything weird on any of my posts, blame the site. HA!**

**That last chapter turned out better than I thought it would! WOOT!**

* * *

Amy was sitting in her history class trying not to fall asleep. Ashley kept poking her to keep her awake so she wouldn't get in trouble. Amy's eyes wandered out the window and she noticed a rough-looking character on a motorcycle. She turned back to Ashley and pointed him out to her.

"Who is that?" Her best friend whispered.

"I don't know…he looks like a drug dealer."

"Why would he be here? Oh wait, the stoners, I forgot."

"He wouldn't come to a school to deal with them. Especially dressed like that…"

"Child molester?"

Amy noticed the man turn his head and he looked her straight in the eye. Ashley saw it too and yelled, "I think he's looking at you!!"

"Ladies," The old history teacher said, "Would you care to share your thoughts with the class?"

"Uh… Ashley's like…sick, so I should like…take her to the bathroom!" Amy hastily lied.

Without getting official permission, the girls practically ran out of the classroom and into the hallway. "What's going on?" Ashley asked.

Amy started pacing and said, "I don't know… but that guy looked at me like he knew me!"

"Could this have to do with your grandpa?"

"Maybe he's just a child molester and….thought I was hot or something."

"Well that makes it more comforting!" Ashley said sarcastically. "Should you call your uncle?"

"No, he's at work. There's still that cop outside who's following me everywhere, I should be safe." She paused for a second and whined, "But I don't want to go back in there!"

"I know, Mr. Collins is a moron."

Amy rolled her eyes and said," Not because of that! I don't want to see that freaky dude out the window!"

"What freaky dude?" A booming voice said from behind.

They turned and saw the biker from outside. Ashley opened her mouth to scream, but Amy covered it.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She tried to ask in a tough voice.

The biker laughed and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh shut up. I know behind your tattoos and shaved head you're really a small child inside, crying…for your mommy." Maybe that was a little dramatic, but it was all she had.

He got closer to her and asked, "Where's the office, toots?"

She started to get in his face and mocked him, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You better watch your back!" He yelled. He suddenly turned and went out the front door.

"Ladies, are you done socializing?" Mr. Collins said from the cracked-open classroom door.

They slowly walked back in the classroom and sat down. Amy looked out the window and saw the biker in the same position as before, still watching her. "This is going to be a long day." She thought.

Amy and Ashley were doing their homework at Ashley's house after school that day. They hadn't seen biker man anymore, and hoped he gave up. Little did they know he changed shifts with another person from Jake's gang, and the replacement was in the bushes across the street.

"I am SO scared right now!"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure he was just…a freak or something." She wasn't very comforting to herself or her best friend.

"What if he's following us? Like in the movies?"

"I think we shouldn't worry about it anymore. If we don't see him, he's gone ok?"

"You should tell your uncle. I mean, he is a cop."

"No, he doesn't need to know."

"Why?"

"I just don't want him to worry!"

* * *

Ryan was sitting across a table from Maxine Valera. She was running a DNA sample he collected at a John Doe crime scene that afternoon. She looked up at his fingers drumming on the table.

"What? Oh… sorry, I'm just distracted."

"Yeah, yeah." She typed in the computer and said, "Well, I didn't get a hit on CODIS. I can tell you it's a female donor though."

"That narrows it down to about half the population…"

"Sorry, I can't control who puts their DNA in the system."

Ryan got up and went to find Calleigh and tell her they had no suspects. He saw her in the hallway talking with Eric and waited until they were finished. Not like he had anything pressing to report. After 10 minutes he got annoyed and broke up the flirtation.

"DNA matches a female, but we can't find out who."

"Not a surprise. Until we can ID the victim we can't get any suspects."

Ryan sighed and his cell phone rang. "Wolfe." He answered, not in a terribly excited voice.

"Hey…."

"Amy? Is something wrong?"

"I can't really tell…"

"What happened?"

"Well, I'm at Ashley's house, and the doorbell rang. When we went to the door, no one was there except a note addressed to you. The cop out here was asleep so he didn't see anything." Then she added sarcastically, "Sure makes me feel safe…"

"Why would he give it to you?"

"Do you know what it's for?"

"No!" he said quickly. "I just… don't open it and I'll look at it when I get home, ok?"

"Well, alright."

"Are you guys ok?"

She sighed and said, "Yes, we're fine."

After making sure three times that they were ok, he finally hung up. Horatio told the team to go home early since they didn't have any leads. Ryan tried his best to avoid eye contact with his boss.

* * *

"I know! Let's hold it up to the light! It's not technically opening it! " Ashley said.

"Well, this isn't something I normally do, but today has been really weird. I kinda want an explanation." She held it up to the light and only two words appeared through the envelope. She read the words to her friend:

_Told ya._

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ashley asked.

Amy groaned, "I don't know! This is really getting on my nerves! And it's not like I can ask Ryan, he told me not to open it!"

"Well, let's wake up our cop and I'll take you home."

Amy thought for a second. Home. She didn't want to call Ryan's apartment that. It was never her intention to stay longer than a night, but he insisted. Plus she didn't have anywhere else to go. She would have gone to Ashley's house, but her mom was weird about friends coming over at 3 in the morning. She wondered how long it would be before Ryan got sick of a teenager being in the house.

"Ok."

* * *

Ryan walked in the door to see Amy at the table, still doing homework.

"Hola!" He tried to be cheery.

"Hey." She didn't.

He looked at her homework and said, "I thought you were doing that at Ashley's house."

"Yeah well, we got a little distracted."

"Just by that note?"

"No, the whole day has been weird."

"What happened?" He hoped to God Jake didn't mess with her.

"Oh you know…high school stuff." He could tell she put on a fake smile, but he decided to ask her about it later. She handed him the note and he opened it. She saw his eyes fill with fear.

"What's it say?" Like she didn't know.

He didn't say anything and threw it in the trash. Suddenly the doorbell rang, and Amy almost jumped out of her seat. "You sure nothing happened today?" He asked.

"Just answer the door Ryan."

He looked through the peephole and was surprised at what he saw. He opened it and said, "Horatio?"

"Mr. Wolfe…I think we need to have a talk…"

Ryan stepped outside and closed the door so Amy wouldn't hear. "Mr. Wolfe, I know what's going on."

Ryan's eyes widened. "What?"

"I know Ron Sarris and your father are planning a hit on me and have blackmailed you into it."

He looked at his feet and thought his knees would give out. "H…I'm sorry, I just…"

"Don't apologize. I have a plan."

Ryan sighed and said, "Even if you do, they're going to wind up killing my niece. And then me. They'll find a way to fit you in, too."

"Do you forget who I am, Mr. Wolfe?"

"You're not invincible, H. You don't know what my dad's capable of…"

"If my plan works, all three of them will be dead."

Ryan's eyes got even wider and his mouth dropped open. "What?!" He practically shouted.

"We don't need to discuss the details now; there are eyes….everywhere…" He put on his sunglasses and looked around.

Ryan forced himself from asking him why he must put on his sunglasses compulsively. "You plan on…killing all of them?"

"It's our only choice. If we tell the higher-ups, they will want to keep it clean and put the conspirators in jail. But they can work around that and plan a hit from there."

"You realize you're talking about murder, right?"

"On the contrary Mr. Wolfe. I'm talking about… setting them up."

"How are we going to do this?"

"Details later. We meet in my office tomorrow morning."

"I can't believe this…"

"I know you're scared Mr. Wolfe. But you have to trust me."

With that, he took his exit and Ryan stood watching him long after he left. He didn't realize that Amy had her ear pressed against the other side of the door the whole time. She backed away slowly when she heard the older man leave. She didn't know what to do with herself, so she sat back down at the table. Her stomach was churning when Ryan came back inside. "Are you feeling ok?"

She was shaking. "Fine!"

He was wondering if she had listened at the door when his cell phone rang.

"Wolfe."

"I warned you, Ryan." It was his father.

He stepped back outside. Amy couldn't resist it; she had to know what was going on.

"What are you talking about?"

"We've got a guy out there watching. He said your boss man was having a little convo with you outside so Amy couldn't hear."

Ryan was sweating and thought he might pass out. "I left a file open at work and he came to chew me out about it." He said as cool as possible.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You expect me to tell him what's going on with those threats you gave me?"

George Wolfe paused for a moment. "You better not have told him, or I'll…"

"I get it!" Ryan practically screamed. George hung up and Ryan walked inside again. He looked at Amy and noticed she looked worse than before. "Are you sick?" He put his hand on her forehead.

"Ryan, stop! I'm fine!"

"Come on, I use that one all the time."

She looked down at her homework and furiously scribbled at it. He decided to leave her alone. Maybe she hadn't heard anything. She was a teenager, a million things could be wrong. He changed his mind sat in the chair next to her and asked, "Is it about a boy?"

She slowly looked up at him, her face twisted with a sarcastic comment ready to surface.

"Never mind." He said as she opened her mouth to lash out.

* * *

**HAHAHA the last part made me laugh. Sorry if this chapter wasn't that great, it's kinda like a transitional chapter. It'll get pretty exciting soon! **

**You know you wanna press that review button. It's calling your name!**

**It says, please! Click me!!**


	10. About to go ballistic

**There's a time jump in this one where it says a few weeks later. Just sayin'. Sorry if this fic is a little shippery on the EC side, but hey, you can't just deny the attraction this season. :)**

* * *

"Mr. Wolfe, there's no need to be so nervous…"

Ryan was squirming in his seat. Amy acted really weird the night before, and he was afraid she heard him talking to Horatio outside. He came in a little early to talk to his boss in his office. "Well, I can't really help it, H."

With a smirk, Horatio started talking about his plan. "Well, in a few weeks, I'm going to be at the airport. I know Julia is with Ron Sarris. I'll try to convince her he's dangerous, and tell her and Kyle to leave on a small plane."

Ryan frowned. Where was this leading?

Horatio continued. "That way, I'll be outside in a large, open space. The perfect spot to be assassinated!"

"You sound a little too enthusiastic…"

"Because I know this will work. Anyway, I'll wear a bullet-proof vest and get some stage blood."

"How are you so sure they're going to shoot you in the chest?"

"I'm not. But it's my only choice. So if she doesn't get that information to Sarris, you will."

Ryan looked at his feet. All of this was happening way too fast. "Well what are you going to do with them? We can't just arrest them, they'll plan a hit from jail!" he said, stating the already obvious.

"That, Mr. Wolfe, is the interesting part….While I'm lying on the ground writhing in pain, I will quickly reach for my gun and shoot them. Your job is to make sure all of them are there."

"How am I going to do that? They'll know something is up!"

"You can figure it out. You're the CSI." He noticed Ryan's frightened rabbit look and said, "I kid." Ryan wasn't laughing. "You just have to work each of them one by one. You're going to have to pretend you're on their side and really want to kill me."

"H…I can't…"

"Yes you can Mr. Wolfe. We need to meet regularly. So you can tell me their plans and everything."

Ryan felt like crawling in a hole. He didn't know how long he could keep this up.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Ryan somehow managed to convince Sarris he was on his side, but not his father or Jake. Ron decided to have a little meeting in a warehouse late at night. Ryan tried to get the time pushed up; he didn't want Amy to wake up and find that he was gone. But the terrible trio wouldn't hear it. That night, he quietly slipped out of the apartment, told the guard cop outside he was getting groceries, and took off. It wasn't a convincing lie, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"He's uh… I think he's trying to get Julia and Kyle away from you…." Ryan was sitting at a small card table with Ron, his dad, and Jake. A few members of Jake's gang were standing guard at the door, which made Ryan stumble over his words in nervousness.

Ron smirked and said, "Well I know that, kid."

"I mean he wants to fly them out of the country on a private aircraft." He tried not to reveal too much and sound fake. He had to make it look like it was their idea to shoot Horatio at that location.

"When?"

"Like…next week. The two don't know yet."

"Where?" His father asked him.

Ryan almost shivered a little. He did not want to give this man a wrong answer. He made that mistake too many times. "At a private airstrip that's about 10 minutes from the lab. It's hardly ever used."

Jake looked around the table. "Maybe that's when we should make the hit. If no one's around, then I think we can do it."

Ryan almost smiled but stopped himself. He should be happy that they were taking the bait, but this also meant his boss was putting his life at risk. George Wolfe looked at his son coldly and said, "How do we know you aren't setting us up?"

Ryan put on his best lying face and said, "For one, the man fired me a few months ago based on nothing. One of my other colleagues had bought marijuana and had failed a drug test, but he kept his job. Caine only re-hired me because they did such a crappy job without me." He paused and said, "And I'd rather not see my niece get murdered." He felt his father's eyes slicing into him.

"Ok then. That's when we'll do it. I wanna be there when it happens too." George said.

The others agreed and Ryan asked, "Who's going to actually shoot him?"

Ron said, "I want the first shot. I want to see the surprised look on his face when he realizes I'm killing him." He leaned back in his chair with an evil grin on his face.

Ryan felt like shivering again. In all his time at CSI he still couldn't understand how casual people can be with murder.

* * *

Amy had a nightmare and bolted upright in her bed. All she could remember was her grandfather and Ryan fighting until George pulled out a gun and shot him in the head. There was blood everywhere and he turned to point the gun towards her. She sighed as she realized it was a dream. It was the most graphic nightmare she ever had, and she got a terrible feeling in her gut it would somehow become true. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom. As she was coming back, she noticed Ryan's door was open and the light was on. He wasn't in there. She ran downstairs to see if he was cleaning or something and quickly realized he wasn't in the house at all. She looked out the window and saw that his car was gone. She wanted to go out and ask the policeman what happened, but being outside at night in Miami didn't exactly feel secure.

She ran back upstairs, grabbed her cell phone, and hid under her covers.

"Wolfe?" He wondered what would possess someone to call him at 2 in the morning.

"Where are you?"

"I had to get some…disinfectant…."

"At this hour?"

"That's how it is with OCD people, Amy."

"You didn't leave a note or anything!"

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine; I just…thought you were dead or something…"

He tried not to laugh and said, "I'm not. I'll leave a note next time, I'm sorry."

"Well I'm glad you think this is so hilarious!" She yelled and hung up. Maybe it was a little harsh, but she nearly had a heart attack.

Ryan put his phone down as he was driving and sighed. He thought she was a heavy sleeper. He had been to these midnight meetings before, and she apparently didn't wake up any of those times. Even if she did wake up, he didn't realize she would get so worried. He arrived at his apartment and quietly went upstairs. Amy's door was closed, but there was light under the door.

He knocked and walked in to find her scowling at the wall. "Amy, look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you would get so freaked out."

"Disinfectant?"

He looked at his feet. "Yeah."

"Whatever. Just don't do it again, ok?"

"I promise." That was probably a lie, but he was used to it by now. He turned to leave when she stopped him.

"Wait…"

He turned back around and said "What?"

"What's wrong with your hand?"

He looked down at his newly-bruised hand. His father nearly crushed all the bones in it when the meeting was over and he need to speak to him 'privately.' George grabbed his son's hand and squeezed until Ryan promised he was part of 'their' team and not working for Horatio.

"Uh…mishap at the store."

"With the disinfectant."

"With the disinfectant." He repeated. She gave him look and he turned to go to his own room. Sooner or later all these lies were going to catch up to him.

* * *

Calleigh Duquesne was walking confidently through the lab. She was on her way to a crime scene that involved someone being hurled from a window. Since her kidnapping ordeal, she felt her confidence drain immensely, but today was a little different. She woke up that morning and decided to move past it. She was Calleigh, after all. She had a reputation to keep up. As she was happily strolling, she caught sight of Ryan. Since he told her about his 'situation' he had been acting really off. He was worse after Alexx left.

"Hey Ryan!" Maybe her cheerfulness would rub off on him.

He looked down and said, "Let's just go to the crime scene."

They got in a hummer together, with Calleigh at the wheel. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced at him looking distantly out the window.

"So…how's life?" She said, mocking him from a few weeks before. He just turned and looked at her.

"Ryan, what's going on?"

"Nothing." He said softly.

"Is Ron Sarris still bugging you?"

"You could say that."

She sighed. "Are you…sad about Alexx leaving?"

He looked away and thought about that day. When some gossiping lab tech came and told him she was leaving he didn't believe it at first. But then the whole lab was talking about it. Ryan was crushed. The mother figure he ever had in his life would be leaving. She was staying in Miami, but it wouldn't be the same. As she was saying goodbyes and came to Ryan, he had a hard time holding back the tears. "Well who isn't?" He asked rudely.

"Ryan what is your problem?"

He didn't say anything, so she dropped it and they rode along in silence. Once they were there, Horatio divided everyone up into groups. He pointed to Ryan and Natalia and told them to investigate the room that the victim fell out of. Ryan rolled his eyes. Even if Natalia was a good CSI, he couldn't stand to be around her. He spent all that time looking for the mole when it wound up being the chick he was kind of dating.

"Well, let's go!" Natalia smiled at him. He forced a smile back. When they were upstairs looking around the room, shots rang out below. Ryan threw a screaming Natalia on the ground and drew his gun. He looked out the broken window, and all he could see was Eric hiding behind a gurney, Horatio's hair, and a dead ME. Once he realized he couldn't do anything from a zillion feet in the air, he relaxed. Eric called him and told them to keep investigating the room.

Natalia found blood on a piece of wood, and as she was exiting the room, Ryan got a call on his cell phone.

"Wolfe." For half a second he considered actually saying hello for once, but it quickly left his mind.

"Today's the day." It was George Wolfe.

"Yeah, I know." Ryan made sure that Amy was at Ashley's all day, and told the officer to keep a sharp eye out. He felt in his gut things wouldn't work the way Horatio planned.

"I need you to keep calling me and tell me what Red is doing."

"I know!"

"If you don't, I'll come after you myself!" George barked into the phone. "You won't see tomorrow and neither will Amy."

"Just leave her out of this, dad…"

"Don't you tell me what to do! I'll slaughter her if I want and you won't be able to do a thing about it! Anyway, do your people still not know that it was Jake's guy that kidnapped Blondie?"

"Do you refer to everyone by their hair colors?"

"I asked you a question." He said menacingly.

"No. They won't find out unless the guy talks."

"Great. Call me next time Red makes a move."

Ryan sighed. This was going to be a long day…

* * *

**WOO! Sorry the update took a little longer than usual. Things should be moving quickly from here though!!**


	11. Going Ballistic

**Woo here it is!**

**luf100: yeah I've been trying to make the serious stuff a little funny sometimes, thanks for noticing!**

* * *

"I hate history!" Ashley screamed.

Amy looked up from her text book. "Yeah well, we need it to graduate."

"Why do they teach it to us? The only people that get degrees in it are total nerds who can't get girlfriends!"

"Everybody needs history, Ashley."

Ashley looked at her friend. Normally she would have said something more creative, but she had been acting really weird since she arrived. "What's up with you?"

"Uh…nothing." She said quickly. But that was a lie. Ryan had been acting weird as well the last few weeks, but today he had been especially so. She figured that today must be the day of that plan she heard (eavesdropped) about. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Both girls went to check it.

Ashley stared at the man opposite her and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name's Jake. And I'm here for Amy." He said, and looked at the girl in question. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her and dragged her outside and into his car.

"Hey!! I'm calling the police!" Ashley screamed as the car screeched away.

* * *

As Ryan was walking out of the crime lab, he received a text message from his father.

_IT'S DONE_

He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. That meant the "vest proof" bullets were now in Sarris' possession, and Horatio was on his way to the airport. Ryan stopped and looked around slowly for a minute. If this didn't work, this would be the last time he would see this building as a cop, and not a suspect.

Ryan quietly walked into an open, abandoned room in the airport looking out at the tarmac. His heart was practically pounding out of his chest. He hoped Calleigh wouldn't try to call or follow him. Ron Sarris was taking the special bullets out of a box and didn't notice him. He bent down and looked as if he was going to kiss them when Ryan decided to make his presence known.

"I'm here."

Sarris nearly jumped out of his skin. "About time! Your boss should be here in about 15 minutes."

Ryan looked around and noticed George in the corner glaring at him. Quickly looking away, he asked, "Do you really think you're going to be able to pull this off?"

"As long as you clean up my mess. Jake is on his way right now. He better hurry up. And you better get in your position."

Ryan stared at him for a moment and went to his designated spot to hide while his boss was being murdered. He told Horatio every minute detail about what was going to happen. He silently prayed that the bullet would hit his double Kevlar vest and not his skull. There was no guarantee that wearing two vests would stop the special bullets, but it was worth a shot.

* * *

Eric Delko was surprised he'd made it this far. He was a few feet away from Ryan, but the younger man didn't know it. Calleigh broke her promise to Ryan and told Eric in confidence what he told her. She called Eric earlier and told him that Ryan suspiciously walked out during an interrogation, and figured that something was going to happen today. Eric followed him and when Ryan stopped at a gas station, Eric jumped out of his car and into Ryan's.

He watched Ryan from a short distance. He didn't really know what he was going to accomplish by following him, but he would figure that out later. He looked at his colleague. Ryan was sweating and didn't look to comfortable. Eric wondered for a second if he should let him know he was there, but opted not to.

"If you flake out on this you know what's going to happen." A man Eric assumed was Ryan's father whispered.

"Yeah, I get it; you don't have to tell me 15 times a minute!" Ryan replied.

"Don't try and pull anything funny. Jake has guys watching your every move."

Eric's heart stopped for a second. Did they see him jump into his car? Were they planning on killing H?

Ryan sighed and looked down. Eric expected him to say something cold and sarcastic as usual, but he refrained. George Wolfe walked away.

* * *

Horatio pulled up his Hummer relatively close to the plane. He knew he shouldn't feel excited but he couldn't help it. Ron Sarris was finally going to get what he deserved. Horatio planned on shooting him and the other conspirators and claim it as self-defense. Ryan had already agreed to testify that way as well. He slowly stepped out of the car and walked toward the airplane. Julia and Kyle were late, but it didn't matter too much anyway. He decided to step inside the plane to make Ron sweat a little until he came out.

Ryan wanted to sit, but he was pacing too much. He had a gut feeling it wasn't going to work, Horatio would die, and no one would believe him when he tried to tell the truth. His OCD was on overdrive, so he tried counting things to keep from cleaning. Unfortunately, he was making himself miserable in doing this.

Jake arrived dragging someone behind him and quickly went to a back room. Ryan didn't notice it though, because he was too nervous.

And then the moment of truth.

Horatio stepped out of the plane and everyone, including Secret Eric, stiffened.

Ron lifted his gun loaded with the special bullets that went through bullet-proof vests. George lifted his hand gun just in case. Ryan nearly had a heart attack while watching the two calm killers.

Horatio took off his sunglasses, took a few steps, and the shot rang out.

Everything moved in slow motion as Ryan watched his boss topple to the ground.

Eric lost all control and bolted from his hiding spot to save his boss. Ryan's eyes widened and it took a second for him to realize what was going on. George and Sarris began screaming incoherently as he ran to catch up with Eric.

"Eric! Stop!" Ryan yelled at the top of his lungs.

Eric ignored him and kneeled down next to Horatio. "H? Are you alright?" He noticed real blood coming from his chest, and called 911.

"Eric!!" Ryan screamed and tackled his colleague to the ground when another shot was heard. Eric sat for a second in silence when Ryan rolled off of him, clutching his own chest. Eric looked up and saw George holding his smoking gun.

Forgetting about the threat, Eric turned to Ryan and said, "Oh my God, Ryan!" He saw blood pour out of Ryan's chest while his eyes were starting to roll around in his head.

"Let go of him and walk away now!" George screamed at him, gun pointed towards his head.

Then, another shot rang out.

* * *

**HAHA! Another cliffhanger for you! You probably hate me! But don't worry, I'm going to update really soon. Sorry if this chapter was short, but it was more "paragraph" stuff than dialogue. I'm excited! WOOT!**


	12. Shots fired

**Good guesses C.H.E.A.R, but I'm afraid they're all wrong! I like your screename though, combining all the characters. :)**

**So you're all dying to know what happens! I'm nice and decided to post another one ASAP!**

* * *

Amy closed her eyes and tried to think happy thoughts. But she figured the Peter Pan effect wasn't going to work in this situation.

"What, you afraid or something?" Her captor asked.

She quickly opened her eyes again and asked, 'What do you want me for?"

He moved closer to her and she tensed. "I think you know what I want."

"I think you're making a bad decision…"

"Don't worry; I've made plenty in my life."

"Like…?" If she could keep him talking, that would give the cops Ashley called time to find her.

"I became a cop."

'What?"

"And went undercover. Only I think I like this side of the fence a little better."

"Nobody knows you're a dirty cop?"

He shoved her against the wall and harshly whispered in her ear, "Don't! Call me that!"

"Fine! Let go of me then!"

"I don't think so…"

"I'll tell them it wasn't you who kidnapped me."

"Yeah right!" With every sentence he violated her personal space even more.

"I promise!" She screamed out of fear.

"I don't care if you testify against me or not. They won't catch me."

"How are you so sure?"

"I've got my ways." He pulled out his gun and pointed it at her forehead. "Now do what I say."

She screamed as loud as she could.

* * *

Eric saw George Wolfe's face twist in pain and fall over, with a gunshot to the heart. He whipped back around and looked at Ryan, who put his gun down.

"It was…pointed at…you. You shouldn't get…shot...again." He said in-between chokes.

"Ryan! Don't talk!" He took his shirt off and applied pressure to Ryan's wound. Good thing he had an undershirt on today. He looked over at Horatio, who was still making faces at his broken sunglasses. "H! Are you alright?"

Through a shocked voice, he said, "I…the bullet isn't all the way in my skin…take care of…Mr. Wolfe…"

They all turned to look when a scream was heard from the area the conspirators were hiding before.

Eric turned back to Ryan when he said, "Leave me…find…Amy..."

"I will when the ambulances come! But I told you that I'm here for you right now Ryan!"

Another scream was heard.

"Forget me! … Find her!" He was fading fast. He started to cough violently and accidentally spit blood in Eric's face.

"Stay awake Ryan!!" Eric screamed in his face and shook him.

Finally, sirens were heard in the distance. Horatio tried to stand, but failed in the attempt.

"H! Just stay down! The ambulances are coming!" He was about to go nuts. His head hurt and prayed that no one else would shoot. He looked at Ryan just as his eyes were closing and blood came from his mouth. "Ryan!!" He shook him even more violently to wake him up, but it didn't work. The ambulances and cop cars pulled up just in time. They quickly loaded the two in separate cars and sped off. Normally Eric would have ridden with one of them, but he had a feeling that the scream was coming from Amy.

* * *

"Shut up! They'll hear you!" He was all the way up against her body, and she was not happy.

"Just let me go you sick butthead!"

That made him angrier, so he proceeded to tear at her clothes. She fought him as hard as she could, but he was much stronger. She wasn't going to give up that easily.

Eric darted into the open room where he hid before. Ron Sarris was nowhere to be found. He stopped and waited until he heard what sounded like Jake Berkley yelling at someone in a nearby room. He kicked down the door just in time to see Ryan's niece punch Jake in the face with such force he fell to the ground. He clambered up and struck her across her own face with his gun. She screamed and fell to the floor herself.

"Jake! Put the gun down now!" Eric yelled in his cop voice.

"Put yours down first!"

"Don't be stupid!"

"We'll put them down at the same time."

Eric looked at Amy on the floor. Jake had his back to her. She was mouthing something, but Eric wasn't a lip reader. He understood what she was trying to say though. He decided to take the chance and say, "Fine. We lay them on the table at the same time."

The two were facing each other slowly laying their weapons down. Amy crouched closer to Jake and as soon as his grip loosened, she grabbed his gun and pointed it at him.

He turned around quickly with fear in his eyes. With fake confidence, he said, "Oh come on, you wouldn't shoot me, you're a scared little girl."

"Am not!"

"Yeah you are!" He started to walk closer to her and said, "Now give me the gun, sweetie…"

She lowered the gun and looked up at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It was stupid." She looked down.

Eric was speechless. He couldn't believe she was surrendering after grabbing the only weapon Jake had.

Then, scaring the two men, she shot Jake in the foot. "NOT!" She screamed.

Jake was screaming himself, only he was in major pain.

"Come any closer to me and I'll shoot at your head! And I won't miss!" She yelled at him.

Eric was astounded at how much confidence she had in her voice. "Oh my God!" He holstered his own gun and pulled out handcuffs to put on Jake.

He pulled Amy out of the room and said, "Are you alright?"

"Who are you again?"

"Uh…sorry, I'm Eric Delko, I work with Ryan."

"Where is he?"

He wasn't prepared to answer her question. "Are you ok?" He asked again.

He saw a scared realization slowly creep up on her face, "What's wrong with him?"

"He uh…wanted to make sure you were ok…."

"Was he one of the people that got shot out here?"

"Eric looked down and said, "Yes…"

"Oh my GOD! Is he ok?"

"They're taking him to the hospital now." Either there or the morgue, but he didn't think that would be appropriate to say.

* * *

Calleigh Duquesne paced through the waiting room at the hospital. One of the lab techs stopped her in the hallway earlier and told her that Ryan and Horatio were both shot and on their way to the hospital. She felt sick to her stomach. The thing with Sarris that Ryan told her about a few weeks ago was bigger than she thought.

She looked at Eric, who had bloodstains on his shirt. He had his hands folded on his knees and he was looking at the ground. Ryan's niece was a few seats away furiously flipping through a magazine. She had a big bruise forming by her eye. Calleigh sat next to Eric and whispered, "Maybe you should put on a different shirt."

He looked down and suddenly remembered Ryan's blood all over him. "Uh…."

"And we need someone to help work the scene anyway, Eric."

"Conflict of interest."

This hadn't stopped Eric before, but she knew he wanted to stay and see if Ryan was going to live. They cornered a nurse in the hallway, much like her and Ryan had done before, to see how he was. The nurse told them that they were trying everything they could and scurried off before they could get a better answer.

A doctor came out and asked, "Is there anyone here for Horatio Caine?" Even though Calleigh was concerned for her boss, that wasn't the name she wanted to hear the doctor say.

"We are." She replied.

"Well, the bullet didn't even go all the way through his skin, since he was wearing two vests. We're going to keep him for a couple hours just for observation. He's in room 201 if you'd like to visit him."

She turned to Eric and said, "Why don't you go first? We shouldn't leave her here alone."

"Uh, yeah," He said, standing up. "I'll be back in a few minutes.

He walked down the corridor and into Horatio's room. He was sitting up on his bed, fiddling with his broken sunglasses. He looked up when Eric came in.

"Eric…quick thinking on your part. Dangerous, but you saved some lives. They told me you saved Ryan's niece as well."

Eric almost smiled and said, "She practically saved herself."

"Have you heard anything about Mr. Wolfe's condition?"

"No. they won't tell Amy anything either. His uncle is on his way though; maybe he can get to them. Have you heard anything?"

"They've told me he's still in surgery…"

Eric sighed. "Great."

"Don't be hard on yourself, Eric. If you weren't there, both of us would probably be dead."

"Yeah I guess. Good thing Calleigh called me." Suddenly remembering why he was there, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"You know me, Eric. No one can touch me." He said with a smile.

Eric admired his boss's confidence, but it made him nervous at the same time. Calleigh came in the room and looked at them both before saying, "The doctor says Ryan's out of surgery…"

Horatio noticed the apprehension in her voice. "And?"

"He's alive, but he's in a coma…"

Eric sighed and looked away, but she continued. "The bullet hit his lung or something, so he can't breathe on his own..."

"Do they know how long he'll be like that?"

She looked at Eric. This was the question she hoped they didn't ask.

* * *

**AAA! Ha I bet you weren't expecting all that! Updating will be soon. What did you think?**


	13. Threats

**I can't just not update everyday when it's this exciting!!**

**Julie: I already had the whole thing in my head from the get-go. But I haven't written the entire thing out yet. As soon as I write a chapter I post it. :) Glad you're excited about it. :)**

* * *

Alexx Woods walked as fast as she could down the hospital hallway. Calleigh called her and told her everything. Even though she didn't work at CSI anymore, she kept in touch with Ryan. She had been the only one to visit him when he had a nail in his eye, but that was mainly because he didn't want his family to know.

She stood outside Ryan's hospital room. There was a teenage girl sitting on a chair outside.

The girl looked like she might be related to Ryan, so she said, "Let me guess. You're Amy, right?"

Amy snapped out of the fog she was in, and frowned at the woman. "Yeah…how did you know?"

"I'm Alexx Woods; I used to work with Ryan."

"Oh." She said and started to stare into space again.

"Why aren't you in there, baby?" She said, sitting next to her.

"Not really looking forward to seeing a comatose person with a gunshot wound…"

"I think he would want you to be there."

"I don't think he would notice, being comatose and all." She said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Honey, people in comas can usually sense when someone is around."

"How would you know?"

"I'm a doctor."

"Oh…Right. Well, I'm going to go in there….eventually…."

"Why don't I come in with you?"

"Now?"

"Yeah." She smiled.

"Yeah…ok…" Amy slowly stood up and went inside.

Ryan was lying completely still on a hospital bed, with a breathing tube in his mouth. He looked more pale than usual and there was an IV with blood stuck in his arm.

Amy pointed at it and said, "Blood….I'm going to be sick…" She started to go out of the room, but Alexx grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

"Just don't look at it."

Amy sat and wondered how long she could stay in the room until she freaked. It wasn't really the blood that scared her. It was the thought of her uncle never waking up.

* * *

Horatio was back at the lab a few hours later despite Calleigh and Eric's protests. He visited Ryan for a while but wanted to find Ron Sarris and make sure he was dead. He talked to a new AV tech about finding his cell phone coordinates, but he couldn't find anything. He sent all the available cars out to scour the area around the airport for him. He brought Jake in for questioning.

"You're wasting your time, Red."

"I don't think so…. Where is Ron Sarris?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'll charge you with obstruction if you don't."

"Oh no, what am I going to do?" He said sarcastically.

"Cut it out, Berkley. One of my CSIs is dying right now, and that does not make me happy. So you better tell me or you won't see tomorrow morning. Got it?" He leaned over on the table.

"That a threat, Caine?"

"More like a promise."

"Alright, I'll tell you."

"I'm waiting."

"He's in a place where you won't find him."

"Funny." As soon as he said it, Calleigh walked into the room and asked Horatio if she could speak to Jake alone.

He complied, walked out the door, and Calleigh sat down. She put on her scary face and said, "What do you think you're doing? Are you really so stupid to actually be a part of that gang? Did you think we wouldn't find out?"

"You wouldn't have if your boyfriend hadn't decided to be Superman."

Calleigh sighed and said, "He's not my boyfriend. And yes, we would have found out."

"If he wasn't there, that stupid girl wouldn't have grabbed my gun and shot my foot. Then I could…"

"Let's stop being speculative. Tell me where Sarris is. Now."

"What, you gonna break up with me if I don't? Sorry babe, beat you to it."

"Why are you working with him?"

"The guys in my gang don't exactly like Red. Plus I like to see you sweat…"

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me where he is and you won't have to fear for your life, Jake."

"I like to live on the edge."

"Fine. But don't think I'm coming to your funeral." She stood and met Horatio in the hallway.

"He's not talking."

"I'm not surprised."

"Are you going to….?"

"If he doesn't talk by 12 tonight, he's a dead man." He growled and walked away. She watched him storm off and turned to look at Jake. He had a smirk on his face and she rolled her eyes.

* * *

Eric was sitting in a chair in Ryan's room. He looked at his watch. It was 9:45. Apparently Ryan's uncle had been in a northern part of Florida that day, so he hadn't arrived yet. Calleigh told him that the doctor didn't know when Ryan would wake up, and it was possible he wouldn't. He looked up and saw that Amy somehow fell asleep in a chair across the room. She didn't look too comfortable.

He felt terrible. If he hadn't lost control to try and save Horatio, Ryan wouldn't have been shot. And he wouldn't be lying here with a tube down his throat. His niece wouldn't have been falling asleep in a hospital chair.

Ryan's hand twitched. Eric sat up, expecting him to do the same. But nothing happened. It must have been the medication. "I'm sorry Ryan…" He whispered. "This is all my fault. Just like the nail gun thing." He looked at his shoes and felt like crying. The door opened and Calleigh slowly walked in.

She sat next to him and said, "Anything change?"

"Thought I saw his hand move, but that was it." He said quietly.

She placed her hand on his back. "We just have to wait…"

"Did Jake talk?"

"No, he didn't. I'm not surprised. Horatio gave him…an ultimatum though."

"What was it?"

"He will mysteriously wind up dead if he doesn't tell us where Ron Sarris is."

Eric's eyes widened. "Wow… I can't believe all this is happening… I mean, he's talking about," his voice lowered, "murdering him?"

"Almost. He wants to set it up as a self-defense move. This is just…weird…"

Eric remembered what he and his boss did in Rio. He said, "Not entirely."

"I mean, what if Stetler asks us if we know anything?"

"We tell him that H practiced self-defense."

"Right." She sighed.

Ryan's hand twitched again, a little more violently this time. Both of them stiffened and waited for him to do something else. Five minutes passed and they gave up. Ryan's uncle Ron walked in a few minutes later, and they decided to leave.

He visited with Ryan for a bit and walked over to Amy and shook her shoulder. "Amy, wake up, I'm here."

She sniffed loudly with her eyes still closed and said, "I told you I didn't want the salami."

He made a face and realized she was still half asleep, so he shook her some more. After a moment, he eyes flew open and it scared him.

"What's…?" She looked over at Ryan. "Oh yeah…"

"Come on, I'll take you home."

She reluctantly got up and followed him out the door. They didn't notice Ryan's hand clutch the sheet as they walked out.

* * *

Horatio stood expectantly in the dark at outside abandon warehouse. The only way to see anything was from the moonlight and light posts placed far away from each other. His watch told him it was 5 minutes to midnight. He looked up and saw Jake Berkley coming towards him. He made bail earlier that day, much to Horatio's protest.

"Well, well. Horatio Caine."

"Tell me now, Jake."

'I can't. But he wants to give you a message."

"And what would that be?"

"To watch your back. You're not as tough as you think, and your CSI isn't either."

"What are you saying?"

Jake smirked and said, "You don't leave Sarris alone, he'll die."

"On the contrary, Mr. Berkley. If you don't tell me where he is now, _you_ are going to die."

"You won't get away with that." He sounded a little more nervous. "If you do, Wolfe will die!"

"I don't think so." He came closer to him.

* * *

**Not a terribly exciting chapter, but the next will be!! Because I'm nice like that. :)**


	14. Breathe

**Comments make me smile. :) So…here you go. **

**Little dawn: it says "vest proof bullets" because those particular bullets can go through bullet proof vests! Haha! I should have explained that a little better sorry! It did look funny though :)**

* * *

_Whirr…beep beep whirr….beep beep whir…_

These were the sounds that were going through Ryan Wolfe's head. He couldn't move or even open his eyes. He knew he was in the hospital, but the details were fuzzy. He remembered getting shot, and Eric freaking out and Amy's screams in the distance.

The first thing he could remember after that was Eric softly talking to him. All he heard was, "Sorry" and "My fault." Ryan tried as hard as he could to get up and tell Eric it wasn't his fault, but none of his muscles would move. After a minute he almost managed to move his hand, so he worked on that for nearly an hour.

By the time he managed to move his hand a little more, it was too late for anyone to notice.

* * *

Horatio sighed, stood up, and walked to his car. This was not the way he wanted it to happen, but he had no choice.

Before he knew it, he wound up at the hospital on his way to Ryan's room. Someone at the nurses' station told him that visiting hours were over, but clammed up when he showed her his badge.

"Mr. Wolfe…" He began, but couldn't think of what else to say. He thought of the reason he never called Ryan by his first name. Almost immediately after Speed died, Horatio hired Ryan as his "replacement." After losing such a good CSI and friend, it was hard for everyone to warm up to Ryan when he joined. Calling him Ryan felt too much like a nickname to Horatio, and he wasn't ready to do that. But, even after a few years, Horatio still couldn't bring himself to call him by his first name. He tried it a few times, but it sounded so odd coming from him he just stuck to Mr. Wolfe. Now he regretted never being that personal with Ryan. There was a possibility he wouldn't wake up, and Horatio would have to deal with it the rest of his life.

There was a noise. It sounded like Ryan was choking on something.

Horatio looked up and waited. He made the noise again, so H called in the nurse.

She and an exhausted doctor came in and ushered Horatio outside. Ten minutes later, they both emerged and the doctor said, "We took the breathing tube out, and he can breathe on his own but I'm afraid he's still in a coma."

"Well, he's making progress right?"

"It's too soon to tell, sir." With that, the doctor walked away and Horatio walked back in the room. He sat next to the bed and said, "You're making progress, Ryan. You'll wake up soon."

* * *

The next morning, Eric Delko walked into CSI and found Calleigh in the hallway.

"Hey, we have a homicide in the warehouse district. Horatio says we should go now." She told him.

"Have you heard anything about Ryan?"

"He's still in a coma, but they took the breathing tube out last night."

"Well that's something." He smiled at her, and she returned one just as bright.

When they reached the warehouse, several police officers were there, looking very hesitant. One approached them and said, "Um… I don't think they're going to let you guys work this one."

Calleigh got frustrated and said, "Why not? Are the feds randomly taking over this case or something?"

The cop replied, "Yeah, but it's not so random…"

"What's going on?" Eric asked.

"It's Jake Berkley. He was shot and killed last night."

Calleigh gasped and took Eric out of earshot of the officer. "Do you think…?"

"I don't know, I thought he was going to call the cops and say it was self-defense! And why would he want us to come and work the scene?"

She sighed and said, "I don't know…. I don't know if I can do this, Eric. I can't just lie when someone asks if Horatio did it."

"Neither can I…"

* * *

"I can't believe you're at school today! You were kidnapped and your uncle was almost killed!" Ashley exclaimed.

"You heard Mr. Collins the other day. If I miss one more day this semester he'll fail me! No matter what's going on in my life!" Amy replied.

"You have an A in that class, how can he fail you?"

"I heard he's dating the principal. So in other words, he can do whatever he wants…"

"Ew…" Ashley made a face.

They walked into the classroom and sat down. Ashley looked out the window and said, "Déjà vu!"

"What are you…?" Amy looked out the window as well. "Oh no…"

There was another biker sitting outside. He looked even more threatening than the one before.

"Ladies?" Mr. Collins said peering over his glasses. "Socializing again, I see? Do I need to send you to detention?"

"No..." Amy rolled her eyes, but the teacher caught it.

"Too bad. I'm sick of you two disrupting class. One more disruption and I'm sending you to my…Ms. Hackysack to attend to you."

"Don't you mean your LOVER?!" Ashley stood up and yelled. Everyone turned with their mouths open.

"Go to her office now or I'll suspend the both of you!" He yelled back.

Once out in the hallway again, Amy looked at Ashley and said, "Are you crazy? Do you want to be thrown out of school?"

"Hey, it got us out of class!" She smiled.

"At the rate you're going we're not going to get back in!" She said. "Come on, let's just get to the principal and get this over with."

"We're not going to the principal's office."

"What are you talking about?"

"We need to leave!"

"Ashley, it's not a really great idea to suddenly decide to skip when the principal is waiting for you!"

"No, I mean we should sneak out of the school so the new biker man doesn't see us! He's expecting us out the front doors after school, so if we skip town right now, we'll be long gone by the time he realizes it!"

"What?"

"Are you forgetting what happened yesterday? Those freaky biker people are following us and one kidnapped you! This guy isn't here to give you tea and cookies!"

"But…I'm going to fail history!"

"Gee," Ashley put up her hands as if weighing the options. "Fail history and live, or ace it and DIE!" She ended dramatically.

"Alright alright, I'll do summer school or something…" She stopped and looked around. "But how are we going to do this? There're video cameras everywhere!"

"Not everywhere." Ashley said.

Within 5 minutes, they were attempting to hoist each other into the air vent in the bathroom.

"Good Lord, Amy! Lay off the donuts! Ugh!"

"I'm not fat! You're just weak!"

"Have you considered how we're going to get out when," She stopped, "_IF_ we get in this thing?"

"Just shut up and get in there, will you?"

Miraculously, Amy managed to pull herself into the vent. "How do you suppose you'll get in here now?"

Ashley stepped on a toilet, nearly slipped off of it, grabbed Amy's hand, and she pulled her up.

"It's a lot more spacious in here than I imagined." She closed the vent and stood up.

"Do you know where to go?"

"I've got a school map in my pocket, that should help, right?"

Amy sighed and grabbed the paper. "Alright. Let's find our way out."

* * *

Horatio sat across the table from Eric and Calleigh.

"H…" Eric began. "I…we…"

"Eric, I didn't do it."

"I heard some feds talking when we were there. They found a red hair and they're about to run it through CODIS. I don't know any other red-heads that have a thing against Berkley…"

"I need you two to trust me."

Calleigh said, "How can we do that? You know we always do, Horatio, but this is seriously pushing it!"

"It was Ron Sarris." Horatio said, being completely calm.

Eric sighed. "Look, I know you don't like the guy, but this is ridiculous."

"I was there, and I threatened him….but I didn't kill him."

"Then how did he get shot?"

Horatio, still as cool as a cucumber replied, "I turned around, saw Sarris with the gun, and ducked right as he fired."

Eric and Calleigh looked at each other. Calleigh looked back at H and asked, "Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent ma'am….one hundred percent." With that, he got up and walked out the door.

* * *

**Gasp! Is Horatio telling the truth? Will Amy and Ashley get out alive? Will Ryan wake up from his coma? Will Eric and Calleigh ever confess their love?**

**Tune in next time to All My Children! Not. It's a fanfiction.**

**:)**


	15. Escape

**Oh I love updating quickly. And I love your reviews. :) Yay chapter 15!**

* * *

"Ow!"

"Shut up! They'll hear you!"

"I can't see!"

"Use your cell phone!"

Amy and Ashley were slowly making their way through the air vent at the school. They figured the best escape route would be to go to the locker room bathroom and sneak out from there. Soon they found the opening to a bathroom and unlocked the vent. Ashley stuck her foot out, found a toilet for footing, and clambered down. Amy quickly followed and they both sighed relief once she was down.

But someone walked into the bathroom and opened the door to the stall.

* * *

All Ryan could see was a fuzzy blankness. He could tell there was a light on above him, and that's what was causing it. He got so irritated at times not being able to move, but others he almost was too tired to care. He could sometimes sense when someone else was in the room, but could barely pick out what they said. The night before he thought he heard Horatio's voice, but was too out there to be able to tell. Soon he felt his breath catch in his throat and then later he could tell someone did something so he could breathe again. He was sick of being confused and disoriented. A few times he thought of his mom and could swear he saw her face. Though every time he thought more about it, his brain would fade away and he wouldn't really think about anything for a while.

* * *

"Horatio…I don't know what to say." Rick Stetler was sitting across from the red-head. The feds allowed him to speak with their prime suspect.

"I'll tell you what I told them, Rick. Sarris did it."

"I want to believe you, but the evidence doesn't lie…"

Horatio gave him a look and said, "You don't want to believe me, and they don't have enough evidence…. to hold me."

Stetler made a face of his own and said, "You better hope their firearms people can't match that bullet to your gun."

Horatio stood up and said, "They won't."

* * *

Eric walked into the break room and found Calleigh standing up, looking out a window.

"Cal? You ok?"

She jumped and said, "Gosh Eric! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry."

"It's ok…" She turned back to the window.

"What's on your mind?" He asked as he got closer to her.

"What isn't? Ryan nearly died; my ex-boyfriend just got murdered by my boss…"

"Come on, you know that's not true."

"Do I?" She sounded like she was fighting back the urge to cry. "He told us he was going to do it and lie about, and he admits he was there…"

"I know. I feel the same way too. But we've trusted H before, and has he ever let us down?"

"No…"

"Then let's be on his side this time, ok?"

"Ok. But that means we need to find Sarris immediately. I know the feds are looking for him, but you know how the government is." She said with a smile.

He accidentally gave her a goofy grin and said, "Yeah…" He composed himself, coughed, and said, "Uh…let's get started." He quickly turned to leave and she tried not to laugh when she noticed his blushing.

* * *

What the girls saw wasn't someone they expected. It was one of their classmates. A _male_ classmate.

Everyone gasped and the boy said, "Aw man, am I in the wrong bathroom again?"

Ashley put a hand over his mouth and said, "No, you probably got it right, but I think we got it wrong. Listen, you didn't see us in here, ok?"

"How much are you willing to pay me?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Amy said.

"I'll give you twenty bucks. And this covers ANYONE who asks. Whether it's a teacher, or some random person you've never seen before, am I clear?" Ashley asked.

"Crystal." The boy smiled and snatched the 20 out of Ashley's hand.

The girls slowly crept out of the bathroom and into the hallway where there weren't any cameras. They stealthily made their exit out a back door.

"Now what do we do?" Amy asked.

"Um…." Ashley made a face.

"You didn't have a plan for when we actually got out?"

"I…no…but we need to think of something now. We can't take my car. Biker Guy will see us."

"So we just walk the streets of Miami?"

"It's a safe neighborhood around here! We won't get killed by dope dealers or anything."

"Well where do we go?"

Ashley looked at her and gave her a pathetic smile. "I was hoping you would know the answer to that one?"

"Let's hide in the bushes before anyone sees us. I think I know someone to call."

Horatio looked up from his paperwork when his cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number, but answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Is this Horatio? The guy with the hair?"

He smiled and said, "That would be me. Who am I speaking with?"

"Uh, I'm Amy, Ryan's my uncle."

"I see. I heard you were going to school today, Amy. Did something happen?"

"Ashley and I sorta snuck out…There's been these biker guys following us, and after yesterday I sorta freaked when I saw one today."

He stood up, grabbed his keys, and said, "Where are you?"

"In the bushes outside the school gym."

"Stay there, I'm coming to get you."

10 minutes later, Horatio parked in the parking lot behind the gym and quickly spotted the girls cowering in the bushes. He got out of the car, came up behind them, and said, "Ladies?"

The two turned around quickly and screamed. "Oh my gosh! Don't scare me like that!" Amy said.

"Or me! Holy cow!" Ashley replied.

He smiled and said, "Sorry, I'll be more careful next time. Why don't you two come with me?"

They got into his Hummer and ducked when he drove past the front of the school.

* * *

Calleigh ran up to Eric, her hair flying all over the place. "Someone called and said they know where Sarris is!" She gasped.

"Who was it?"

"I don't know, dispatch called and told me. We need to get there now!"

They both got in a Hummer with several squad cars following them. Once all the officers reached a ratty motel, they all cautiously got out of their vehicles, with their guns drawn.

Eric and Calleigh got on either side of the door. Eric reached his hand up to knock, but stopped and looked her in the eye.

"If we don't make it…"

"We will. Just knock on the door." She was not prepared to hear him say something so final.

He closed his eyes and knocked on the door. "Sarris! Open the door! We have you surrounded!"

A clanking noise was heard inside and the two tensed. "Do it now!" Calleigh screamed.

The door quickly flung open.

* * *

Amy sat with (Ryan's uncle) Ron in Ryan's hospital room. Horatio took Ashley home, but brought Amy here.

"How long is he going to be like this?" Amy asked.

"Could be a few days to a few months." He had to tell her the truth.

Amy sighed. "Well what are we supposed to do? Everyone in my family keeps getting killed or thrown in jail or…I don't know. You better watch out, you're probably next…"

Ron smiled and said, "Don't worry about me. I'm here for you."

"I hope so."

"So how come you're not in school again?"

"My friend and I saw this biker gang guy and had to escape. I mean, I was kidnapped by one of them yesterday, you know. I'd rather it not happen again." She ended sarcastically.

"How did you get out of the school?"

"Air vent."

"You climbed through the air vent?!" Ron asked.

"What else were we supposed to do?"

"Tell the principal, for one!"

"No, she would have sent us to detention and there would be no way we could escape."

"You would get in trouble for having a stalker?"

Amy sighed. "She and my teacher are dating, so she's totally on his side and probably wouldn't believe us. Plus we needed to get out when he wouldn't expect us to leave."

"So you climbed through an air vent?"

"We couldn't let the cameras see us! They would know we skipped!"

"What do you suppose they're thinking now?"

"Well…" She hadn't thought of that. "Doesn't matter. I'm out now, and I haven't been kidnapped."

Ron started to laugh. "I wish I could have seen you crawling through a dusty air vent…"

"Yeah, yeah..."

An unexpected voice said, "Me too."

**GASP! What will happen? Don't worry, the next chapter will come soon as well. I'm having a lot of fun with this, it's hard not to just write the whole story right now!**


	16. Uh oh

**I need a life. Thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

Kyle stood in the doorway with a gun in his hand. He quickly lowered it when he saw all the police officers. "Uh…."

"What are you doing here?" Calleigh asked.

"I could ask you the same!"

"Is Sarris in there?"

"Who wants to know?"

"The Miami-Dade Police Department!" She nearly screamed back.

He sighed. "No, he and my mom left like an hour ago."

"Where was he going?"

"He didn't say…"

"Why are you here?" Eric butted in.

"My mom brought me. She said we can't trust my dad."

He grabbed the teenager and said, "Come on, you're coming with us."

"Am I getting arrested?"

Eric rolled his eyes as an officer grabbed Kyle and explained they were just taking him to Horatio. Eric and Calleigh went into the room to see if they could find a hint of his whereabouts. They grabbed their kits, put on rubber gloves, and got started.

"There's a receipt in the trash can for Taco Hut…" Calleigh said.

"Maybe we should send someone over there to check it out. If we're lucky, they're repeat customers."

"Unless they're skipping town." She paused. "Here's a bank slip. Miami Savings…"

"Let's find as much as we can of places that they've been to. We'll send a car to each one and the surrounding areas." She said and got back to work.

The pair looked around the room a little while longer and found two more fast food receipts, and a phone number scrawled on a scrap of paper. As they were about to leave, an officer ran up to them and said, "Dispatch just told me an anonymous person called and said Sarris is going to the hospital!"

"The same one Ryan's at?" Calleigh asked.

The officer hesitated, looked away, and said, "Yeah… We've got people going there right now…"

Eric turned to Calleigh and said, "We're going to join them. Let's go." They hopped in the Hummer, put on the sirens and lights, and sped away towards the hospital.

* * *

"Why am I here?" Kyle whined from the chair he was sitting in.

"It's the only safe place for you, son." Horatio said.

"I was fine with my mom!"

"Kyle….your mother is involved with a murderer…"

He sighed and looked as if he was about to cry. "I'm just…confused. I don't know who to believe anymore…"

"You can believe me, Kyle. You can believe me."

* * *

Amy and Ron turned around hoping it was Ryan's voice, but they saw Ron Sarris in the doorway. "Too bad you couldn't slip past us though. My guy went in the school but couldn't find you. Guess I'm just to smart for you people."

Ron Wolfe looked at him and said, "Who the heck are you?"

Amy couldn't breathe. She was so convinced she was safe five minutes ago. "Wha…why are you here?"

"Questions, questions…I came to visit Ryan of course."

"I said who are you?" Uncle Ron stood up.

Sarris laughed and said, "You think I'm threatened by you?" He pulled out a gun.

Amy still sat frozen in her chair, her eyes wide open. "What…"

"He went behind my back. That wasn't a smart decision." He turned his arm and pointed the gun at Ryan's head.

"Wait!" Amy finally un-froze and jumped up. "You don't have to do this!"

"Sorry kid, 'fraid I do." He cocked the gun and got closer to the bed.

"The doctor said he's not going to wake up!" She lied.

"Great. I'll put him out of his misery."

Ron sprinted over to Sarris and tackled him to the ground. The two began a fight over the gun, while Amy tried to find something heavy to hit Sarris with. Before she could, however, Eric ran into the room, his own gun in hand, and yelled, "Put the gun down and lay on the ground!!"

Sarris realized if he tried to fight anymore there would be a bullet in his head. He did as Eric said while another officer slapped handcuffs on him and led him out. Calleigh caught up and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"We are now." Ron said while gasping for air.

Amy sat in a chair and said while staring into space, "This has been a really weird day…"

"I'll say…" A different unexpected voice said. Everyone turned to Ryan and stared. "What?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Oh my God! You're awake!" Calleigh pushed through everyone and hugged him. Eric stood still, feeling a little jealous.

"Well how could I stay asleep with all this racket?" He asked, being completely serious.

She ignored it and turned to Eric. "We need to call Horatio." They stepped outside as Amy and Ron went to Ryan's bed.

"How are you feeling?" Ron asked.

"Like an elephant is sitting on my chest." He looked at Amy and noticed the bruise above her eye. "Oh wow, are you ok?"

"You just woke up from a coma and you ask how I am?" She replied.

"The last thing I remember is hearing you scream…"

She paused and said, "Oh… Well I'm fine now."

"What happened?"

"Why don't you worry about that later, Ryan, you just woke up from a coma." Ron reminded him.

* * *

Horatio closed his phone and smiled. "I knew he was going to wake up soon."

"What are you talking about?" Kyle asked.

"One of my CSIs just woke up from a coma."

"What happened to him?"

"Ron Sarris shot him…."

"Oh… Dad…I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault, son. I just want you to remember not to trust him anymore." Horatio's cell phone rang again. "Caine."

"Uh…Sir?" It was a patrol officer he knew.

"Yes?"

"We arrested Ron Sarris but…."

"But what?"

"He escaped…"

Trying not to blow his top, Horatio asked, "How did that happen?"

"I don't know. An officer was escorting him out of the hospital and they both disappeared….I think they're working together."

"I see…Make sure Mr. Wolfe and his family get complete protection, ok?"

"Yes sir."

Horatio hung up and looked at the floor.

"What's wrong Dad?" Kyle asked.

"Sarris got away."

* * *

**Woot! So Ryan woke up, but not the way you thought! So what will happen with Sarris? Will Eric get over his unnecessary jealousy? You'll have to wait and find out! Reviews are always wonderful!**

**Lurkers: Anonymous reviews are enabled! Don't be shy! :)**


	17. Phone Calls

**Teehee I'm glad you guys like it. :)**

* * *

Ryan looked up at the TV and wondered who turned it on and how long it had been on. He thought of the events that happened two hours before. He was in the middle of his fuzzy blank nothingness when he felt his eyes open and saw his uncle and Sarris fighting on the ground and Amy coming to attack with a large book in her hands. Soon after, when everything was settled down, Eric and Calleigh got a call and left abruptly. He had a feeling something was wrong but he didn't have the energy to think too much of it. The doctor came in and did several tests to make sure he really was awake, and left mumbling about how he was sure Ryan wouldn't wake up.

"…so I told him, I don't want the Biggie size! But I pulled around and they gave it to me anyway…. Ryan? Are you paying attention?"

"What?" Ryan suddenly realized his uncle was talking to him.

Ron gave him a look and said, "Did you hear what I said?"

"Um…."

"We don't want you to slip into another coma, son." He said with a nervous smile.

"Sorry, I'm just kinda out of it."

"I understand."

Ryan looked around. "Where did Amy go?"

"Don't you remember? Her friend Ashley came and they went to the cafeteria."

"Oh. I don't remember that…"

"Give it time. Your mind will come back soon."

"What's that bruise over her eye about?"

Ron sighed. Why was he being asked all the difficult questions lately? "Well….. She got kidnapped the day you were shot, Ryan."

"What?" he shouted. He tried to sit up but felt immense pressure on his chest.

Ron calmed him down and said, "She's completely fine." He stopped and smiled. "She wound up getting the guy's gun and shooting him in the foot."

"Who was it?"

"Some guy named Jake I think. They uh…they actually found him dead this morning."

Ryan seethed. "I should have been able to save her…."

"She's fine, Ryan. Your friend found her before he could get any further."

"What friend?"

"Eric, I think his name was. He was in here earlier with that blonde girl when you woke up. I guess he just knows the right times to show up!"

Ryan smiled slightly. If Eric wasn't there both he and Amy would probably be dead. He'd have to talk with him later. "I guess so."

"I'm glad you're ok."

Ryan didn't reply and looked away. Ron asked, "What's wrong?"

"Is he dead?"

"Who? That Jake guy? I just told you he was murdered last night."

"Not him…"

Ron still wasn't getting it. "Who are you talking about?"

"My dad."

He opened his mouth, paused for a moment and said, "Uh…yeah, I'm afraid so…"

"I killed him." Ryan said, holding back the tears.

* * *

Eric and Calleigh were at the lab. He was running the phone number on the scrap of paper they found, but his mind was on something else. "So…" he said, breaking the silence, "You were pretty happy to see Wolfe awake."

She eyed him carefully. "Should I have been angry?"

"No… it just seemed like there was more than just friendship going on." He said quietly.

She laughed out loud. "Eric Delko, are you jealous?" When he tried to make a serious face and look away, she said, "Well you have nothing to worry about. Ryan and I are just friends…now."

He whipped back around. "You've been out with him before?"

She laughed again and said, "NO! I just wanted to see what you would do!"

"Well...you…shouldn't scare me like that…"

"You got scared?"

He turned around quickly and said, "I got a hit on this number."

She let him change the subject and asked, "Whose is it?"

"It says George Wolfe…so I guess this doesn't take us anywhere… Ryan shot him that day."

"Wait…he shot and killed his own father?"

"You didn't know that?"

"I thought it was Horatio or something…"

Eric looked down. "No. I was standing over Ryan and his dad came up behind me, about to fire. Next thing I know, Ryan shot him so he wouldn't kill me…"

"Oh wow…That's….I don't even know…"

"Yeah. Can't say anyone's ever killed a parent for me before." He said somberly.

* * *

"I had no idea what I was getting into when I became your friend!" Ashley exclaimed.

"If it's any consolation, I didn't either."

"I mean, kidnapping, bribery, escape attempts? What's next?"

"I don't think there's anything left!"

"My mom is going to freak if the school calls her! What do you think she'll do when she finds out I escaped while on my way to the principal's office?"

Amy laughed. "I don't know, but I hope I'm there to see it!"

"She probably won't let me leave the house!"

"Not with me, anyway. I imagine I'm not her favorite person right now considering everything that's happened in the last few days."

"Well…I haven't exactly told her _everything_…"

"What have you told her?"

"Nothing, actually."

Amy sighed. "When she does find out I guess we'll have to wait until we go to college before we see each other again!" Before Ashley could say anything back, Amy got a call on her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Come to the warehouse where Jake was killed." It was a male voice she thought was vaguely familiar.

"Who is this?"

"Be there tonight at 9."

"No! Tell me who you are!"

"Come alone. If you don't, Ryan's gonna die. For real this time." And the person hung up.

* * *

"Let's call the number anyway and see what we can find. Maybe someone will pick up." Calleigh said.

"Alright." Eric picked up a phone and dialed the number. It rang a few times as expected, but what he didn't expect was for someone to pick up.

"What?" The voice demanded.

"Who am I speaking to?"

"Well you should know if you called, right?"

Eric motioned for Calleigh to track the call. She hooked up the equipment and began the search.

"I found the number and wanted to see who it belonged to."

"Yeah right."

"Um…" Eric had an idea. "Ok, actually I heard you sell guns…"

"Not to just anybody. What kind do you want?"

"The kind that goes through Kevlar." Maybe he could go somewhere with this.

"How much you willing to pay?"

"As much as it takes." Calleigh showed him the location of the person on the phone and ran into another room to call Horatio.

* * *

Ryan stared at the wall, ignoring what Ron was saying. He was getting sick of fast food stories. Earlier his uncle tried to convince Ryan it wasn't his fault that he killed his father, and he pretended to give in. But he didn't feel that way.

Now he was responsible for both of his parents' deaths. He literally _killed _both of them. Sure, his father was an alcoholic child abuser, but he was still his dad. He made Ryan's life total crap, but the man put food on the table. Most of the time.

But he just couldn't be responsible for Eric's death, even if his own father had to die. Eric already had a bullet in his brain; he didn't have much luck left. He did come to save Ryan, and he saved Amy as well.

"…But I said, I don't want cheese! But I pulled around and guess what?" Ron stopped. "And you're still not listening to me."

"Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just…tired."

"Well, go to sleep and I'll tell Amy the rest of the story when she gets back."

Ryan just stared at the wall some more, but Ron didn't want to say anything else. He knew Ryan was still upset about his father, and there was nothing Ron could say to fix it.

* * *

"I'm beginning to REALLY hate my life!!" Amy screamed in the bathroom.

"I think I'm starting to hate your life too." Ashley said, trying to make light of the situation.

"Every time I think it's all over, something ELSE happens again!"

A lady opened the door to the restroom and slowly walked in.

"Look, if we tell the cops, they can be there without being seen, right?" Ashley asked.

"Even if they shoot this guy in the head, someone else will pop out and make more threats! And more people will die! This whole thing is no-win situation!"

"Why does he even want to meet with you?"

"I don't know, probably to kill me to freak out my uncle or something!"

"Just…calm down. Let's call that red-haired guy again, and see what he can do. I've seen him on the news; he's like a super hero or something…"

The woman came out of the stall and stare at them. Ashley said, "What?" and she scurried out the door.

"We probably shouldn't be discussing this in a public place!"

* * *

Eric and Calleigh silently drove in a car (not a Hummer) to where the illegal arms dealer wanted to meet. They were both nervous, and tried not to shake. "Why can't some undercover cop do this?" Eric finally said.

"Well, lately we haven't been having much luck with them."

"I don't see the other officers. Are you sure they're following us?"

"Yes I'm sure. They said they would call if they lost track of us. Calm down, Eric."

Eric got a call on his cell phone, but it was a quick call. When it was over he turned to Calleigh and said, "That was the hospital. They said Ryan wants to talk to me."

"I'm sorry, but it's going to have to wait. This shouldn't take long anyway. We just wait in the car until we see him, and a sniper is going to pick him off."

"You sound awfully casual about it…"

"Better casual than scared."

They parked next to an abandoned gas station and sat quietly. Suddenly, another car pulled up and a middle aged Cuban man got out, looked around and went to their car. Eric and Calleigh held their breaths while he approached. Suddenly, a shot was heard, and the man fell on the ground. "No no no!!" Calleigh yelled. That wasn't Ron Sarris!"

"He could have been working for him."

"Doesn't matter! Now he'll be more aware and we'll never find him!"

"We'll find him, Calleigh. Trust me."

* * *

**Man, everyone's been adding a bunch of stories lately, so mine is pushed back a page! :( But hey, what do ya do. Hope you enjoy Ryan and his awakened angsty self Haha! Love the reviews! BTW, I was watching that weird American Teenager show yesterday and realized something that irritated the mess out of me. The two sisters' names are Amy and Ashley. I was like, NO! I WAS FIRST! GRR! It felt weird every time they said their names. Weirdness.**


	18. Hospital

**Sorry it's taken a little longer to update! So here ya go.**

* * *

"Ryan?" Eric walked in the door and looked at him. Ryan looked strung out, so Eric figured he should make it quick. He looked around and said, "Where's your uncle?"

Ryan looked around the room and said, "I….don't remember…."

Eric had a weird feeling in his gut. Miami-Dade didn't need two CSIs with brain problems. "Uh…don't worry about it. What did you call me for?"

"I wanted to thank you."

Eric stopped for a second. This was completely out of character for Ryan to say, especially to him. "For what?"

"Everything…If it wasn't for you we'd all be dead."

"If anybody is handing out thanks, it should be me. Ryan, you killed…someone while you were bleeding to death so I wouldn't get killed." He chose his words carefully.

"I didn't want to see you get shot again. You were really lucky the first time."

Eric looked at the floor. "I…" He started, but couldn't think of what else to say.

"Eric….I've been a big jerk to you ever since I started at CSI and I'm sorry."

"Wha…It's fine, Ryan I promise…"

"No it's not. I had no reason to be so stubborn. I just….am."

"Well…I wasn't exactly helping with the situation either. When you first joined I was still pissed about Speed dying…and I guess I took it out on you."

"So should we call an official truce this time?" Ryan held up his hand.

Eric walked over and shook his hand. "Yeah, I think we should."

* * *

Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Ron asked Amy as she was pacing through the hospital hallway.

She stopped gave him a defeated look. "No…probably not…" and went right back to pacing.

"If something's bothering you, you need to tell me."

"Let's just say…well…I don't know…"

"Amy!" He said.

"If I tell anybody then…" She stopped. She gave away too much already.

"Then what? What's going on?"

"Nothing!"

He grabbed her by the arm and said, "Tell me what's going on NOW."

She sighed. "I got a call from some guy…."

Ron felt his stomach turn. "What guy?"

"I don't know! He told me to meet him in some warehouse…"

"Oh my God…why didn't you tell anyone?"

"He said if I do he's gonna kill Uncle Ryan!!"

Ron pinched the bridge of his nose. "We need to call Horatio."

* * *

Ashley pulled into her driveway and got out of her car. Her mom called her earlier and threatened Ashley's life if she didn't come home. She slowly made her way to her doorstep when she heard someone behind her. Turning around, she saw the woman from the bathroom in the hospital. "Uhh…." She said.

"We need to talk." The woman said.

"You followed me home? From the bathroom?"

"I know who you are."

"Great…." Ashley turned back around and reached for the door handle. Before she knew it, the woman grabbed her and whipped her around.

"Listen to me! If you don't do what I say, your little friend is going to die along with her uncle!" She screamed.

"Ok! I'm listening!" Ashley replied.

The woman dragged her off and into her car. "Look, I'm taking you back to the hospital. You're going to find your friend and convince her not to tell the cops about her phone call, alright?"

"Hey! You're kidnapping me!"

"Shut up! Did you hear what I said? No cops!"

She sighed. "Fine! Gosh!" Her cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Ashley! Where are you? I saw you get in someone's car!" It was her mom.

The woman turned to Ashley and whispered, "Hang up."

She looked at the woman and back at her phone. She closed her eyes and pressed another button on her phone.

"It's 7:00. Your friend has two hours to get to the warehouse."

"And then what?"

"That's none of your business! But you have to make sure she's there alone, or she's dead!"

"But why? What did she do to anybody?"

"She didn't do anything. This is about her uncle."

"What did he do?!" Ashley yelled.

"He betrayed my boyfriend."

"So…your boyfriend is making you do his dirty work?"

"He's busy right now. We're getting ready to jet off to Brazil, soon as we pick up my son and get Ryan Wolfe taken care of."

"You're going to kill him?"

"Just shut up or we'll kill you too!"

* * *

Horatio's heart was beating a mile a minute. He'd been a police officer long enough to know when someone was secretly calling for help. He heard the whole conversation between Ashley and Julia and was running to his Hummer while listening. As he sped to the hospital he couldn't help but regret everything that had been happening the past few days. It seemed there was no other way to take Ron Sarris down, but Ryan getting shot and putting others in danger was not part of the plan. He reached the hospital and ran inside, not sure where he was going. He saw Amy and Ron Wolfe looking at him funny, but he kept running. When he reached Ryan's room, he flung open the door and screamed, "MR. WOLFE!"

Ryan sat up and said, "What?!"

He stopped and gasped for air. "Just…making sure you're ok."

"I'm fine H…" He eyed him carefully.

"Sarris is out there…looking for you. And Amy."

"I thought you arrested him!"

"He got away…"

"Why didn't anyone tell me?!" He was getting worked up.

"We didn't want you to worry, Mr. Wolfe…I mean Ryan."

"Well is everyone safe?"

"For now…for now…" He walked out of the room and found Ron.

"Horatio, we were just about to call you."

"About the meeting at the warehouse?"

"How did you know?" Amy asked.

"I have my ways." He didn't want to let on that Ashley had been kidnapped.

Ron turned to him and asked, "Well what do we do now?"

"We call in reinforcements." Horatio said, reaching for his new sunglasses.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Calleigh said through giggles. "You and Ryan have decided not to fight anymore?" Eric was back at the lab and talking to her in the locker room.

"Well…yeah I guess." Eric said.

She laughed a little more. "You realize that won't last, don't you?"

"Probably not, but I don't think we're going to hate each other anymore."

"Well, good. I'm proud of you."

He smiled and changed the subject. "Have any info on Sarris?"

Her own smile faded as she said, "No. He really knows how to hide."

Eric got a call on his cell phone. "Delko."

"Eric, I'm afraid we have a situation."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing right now, but I need you and Calleigh to meet me at the hospital now."

"Got it." He closed his phone and looked at Calleigh. "H wants us at the hospital."

"Is everything alright?"

"I hope so…"

* * *

**Next chapter will have some major action!! It will come sooner than this one did! So…have fun. Leave comments. :)**

**Can't wait for Sep. 22!!**


	19. Dangerous

**Thanks for the reviews! The title of this story is in this chapter if you can find it. :)**

* * *

Amy sat in a chair looking at the floor in Ryan's room. Horatio and his CSIs decided to have a meeting to discuss a plan, but she wasn't listening to them. She shouldn't have told anybody about the call. But it was extremely hard not to. She knew going to that warehouse alone was a bad idea, but getting Ryan killed was worse.

"Amy? Are you listening?" Horatio finally asked.

"No…Not really…" She said softly.

"We need you to go to the warehouse, but we'll be right behind you, unseen."

"No!" Ryan, who wasn't officially in the conversation, spoke up. "That's too dangerous! Wait for Sarris to come and then get him! You're not sending her out there!"

"If that's the way you want it, Mr. Wolfe."

"It is!"

"But if I don't go, he'll kill you!" Amy said.

"I don't care! You're not going!"

Eric spoke up. "Look, you guys aren't arguing about her going to a party or anything. Ryan, we can't have you killed."

"Well we can't have her killed either."

"Mr. Wolfe…Ryan… I know you want her to be safe, but this might be our only option to keep her that way." Horatio said.

"We'll have people all over the place. She'll be safe." Calleigh said reassuringly.

"Yeah, that's what Horatio said the day he was shot…" Ryan said.

"That's completely different Mr. Wolfe. There were no other cops there."

"What if Sarris spots them? He probably has people all over the place too!"

"Then we'll just have to take that chance!" Amy got up and said. "The important thing is that this guy is stopped before he kills anyone else!"

Ryan looked at her for a second before replying. "You shouldn't have to pay that price."

"I'll be fine. They can put me in a bullet proof vest or something."

Ryan hesitated and said, "No."

She sighed and sat back down. "You realize he probably won't stop at killing you if I don't show."

"Ryan…if he makes the slightest movement towards his gun, we'll have him down before he knows what hit him." Calleigh said softly.

He didn't say anything for a minute, and looked out the window. "If you promise nothing will happen."

Horatio, Calleigh, and Eric smiled and started making phone calls as they went into the hallway.

"I'm gonna be fine, Uncle Ryan…." Amy said.

Still looking out the window he said solemnly , "You promise?"

"Yeah. I promise." She went to hug him and went outside with the others.

Ryan ran his hands through his hair and sighed. If something went wrong he would never forgive himself. He would have to chalk it up on the list of family that he's killed.

* * *

"You should really consider a shirt that…covers more." Ashley said to Julia.

"How many times have I told you to shut up?!" She screamed as they were getting out of the car.

"You chose the wrong person to kidnap."

Julia grabbed Ashley's arm and squeezed. "You chose the wrong person to get an attitude with."

"Ow! Ok! Let's just get this over with!"

She dragged her into the hospital and quickly found Amy in the hallway. Julia ducked into a corner and listened in on their conversation.

"Hey." Amy said.

"What's…up?" Ashley said nervously.

"Nothing."

"Cool… Um, so listen, you shouldn't tell the cops about the phone call."

"Why not?"

"It is unwise…" Ashley said unnaturally.

"Well, I should trust my friend's opinion…perhaps it is not smart to tell the police." Amy said, with equal fakeness.

"Ok. Nice to see you." Ashley started to walk away, but Amy stopped her.

"Wait… come with me to the bathroom."

"Why?"

"Girls never go alone!" Amy laughed nervously.

They went into a nearby bathroom so Julia wouldn't hear their conversation. In a whispered voice, Ashley said, "Oh my God, that lady just kidnapped me!"

"I know! I know everything! I've told the cops!"

"What's going to happen?"

"I'm going to the warehouse."

"No!"

"Yes! But there will be like a SWAT team or something there, I'll be fine." She looked at her watch. "I have to leave in 15 minutes. Horatio is in the room across the hall, just go in there. They're going to grab Julia."

"The guy with the hair?"

"Yeah. They told me there's a bunch of plain clothes officers crawling on this hallway, so if anything happens you'll be fine."

"And what about you?"

Amy looked away. "Don't worry about me."

Ashley hugged her and said, "This has been the craziest few days of my life…But I love you."

"I love you too." Amy tried to say without crying and opened the door to see Julia with her ear pressed to the door.

"You really think I'm that stupid?"

Ashley screamed as loud as possible and two men came running up and grabbed the older woman. "HEY!" She yelled, looking around. "This isn't going to work!!" She yelled at Amy as they took her away.

* * *

Calleigh and Eric sat across from the warehouse in their decoy vehicle from earlier. There were a few other cars planted around, and several officers inside the warehouse.

"I bet Ryan's freaking out right now." Eric said.

"I couldn't believe it when he finally gave in." Calleigh said.

"Amy and Ron are the only family he has left. But if she didn't do this, he might have no one at all."

"I wish…I wish we weren't so hard on him before. I had no idea what his life was like. I only saw a few jerky things he did and judged him too quickly."

"Trust me, I know the feeling."

"We should start being more honest with ourselves."

"Yeah, we were still upset about Speed dying, and Horatio hired Ryan like two weeks later…"

"That's not what I'm talking about Eric." She said with a smile.

He looked at her. "Then…Oh…." He finally realized.

"There's no sense in beating around the bush."

"It has gotten a little ridiculous, hasn't it?"

"It's dumb to keep going on like this."

"We should act on our feelings." He smiled at her.

"Right. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm telling Horatio we need a snack machine in the break room."

His smile faded and he said, "What?"

"We've needed one for so long! I don't always feel like bringing junk food from home!"

He sighed and looked away. "Yeah, I guess…"

"Eric?"

"What?" He said, obviously irritated.

She smiled and grabbed his hand. "I'm kidding." And she reached over and kissed him.

* * *

Amy felt like she was going to throw up as she drove to the warehouse. All she had to do was go in, and the police would take care of everything else. But what if the person who called wasn't even the Sarris guy? If it wasn't, word would quickly get to him that she told the cops, and they would be in trouble. She thought of Ryan's face right before she left. He gave her a look like he would never see her again, but she tried to assure him everything was going to be fine.

She pulled up to the warehouse and stopped. She looked across the street and saw the car Eric and Calleigh were in. She felt a little safer, but not much. She closed her eyes and prayed for several minutes until she finally opened the door.

* * *

**Muahaha cliffhanger! I'm so mean. :)**


	20. Warehouse Escapades

**Aw, I'm nice aren't I? **

**Wow, chapter 20!!**

**Oh I forgot, hello to everyone at CSI Files who didn't know it was Hollyyo writing this! :)**

* * *

"Mr. Wolfe, we're going to keep you overnight, but we'll release you tomorrow." The doctor told Ryan as soon as everyone left.

"Why can't I just leave now?"

"With all due respect sir, you woke up from a coma just a few hours ago, we need to keep you for observation."

"You can force me to stay?"

"Well, technically no, but it wouldn't be wise to leave."

"I don't care!"

"Ryan," Ron finally spoke up, "You're staying."

Ryan shut his mouth and pouted as the doctor walked out of the room. He felt useless just sitting there when he felt perfectly fine. Almost.

"She'll be fine." Ron spoke up again.

"How are you so sure?"

Ron sighed. "She's a smart girl and there are tons of police officers there. She's fine." He wasn't so sure of it himself, but he needed to be encouraging.

Ryan looked out the window and pouted some more.

* * *

Amy slowly stepped onto the pavement. She hated being outside in Miami late at night, especially by an abandon warehouse. Horatio called her while she was on her way and assured her everyone was in their place, but that didn't calm her nerves any. Every step she took towards the door made her heart beat faster and her brain more numb.

She opened the door and stepped inside. There weren't any lights on, but she heard a voice.

"Surprised you showed." Came the voice of a man.

"Yeah well…" She said in a weak voice.

"No cops?"

She swallowed and repeated, "No cops."

"Good."

"What do you want from me?"

The man laughed and said, "You really think I wouldn't kill you _or_ Ryan just because you showed up?"

"Why do you want me here?" She cried in a desperate voice.

"So I can see the look on his face when he realizes it's his fault you're dead!"

"You're not gonna get away with that!"

Suddenly, the man flipped the lights on to reveal him and 20 other bike-gangers loaded with guns pointed at her. She gasped and tried to get her legs to move out the door, but she was glued to the floor.

"Oh I think I am…"

"Can't we...work something out?" She looked up at the second floor of the warehouse and faintly saw some hidden SWAT team members' panicked faces. They didn't expect this.

"Like?"

She thought for a minute. She knew if she offered her own life in exchange for her uncle's, he would never be able to live it down. "What if I can get you and your girlfriend out of the country where no one will ever bother you again?"

"You can't do that. And I can pull that off myself anyway. Killing Mr. Wolfe is payback."

"What if I…" She couldn't think of anything else.

"Say your last words, ma'am." He cocked his gun and walked closer to her. "If you try anything funny, all these guys will make sure you're dead before you finish a thought." He growled into her face.

"There's got to be something you want! I'll do anything!!"

"Anything?" His face grew an evil smile and he put a hand on her face.

"Uh…most anything?"

"Oh I think there's only one thing you can give me that'll make me not kill you."

* * *

"I think we need to get in there." Calleigh said while stepping out of the car.

"Are you sure?" Eric asked, full of concern.

"She's been in there 5 minutes already. Horatio said it would take about 5 seconds."

He got out of the car as well, and they walked across the street and looked in the warehouse window.

"Uh…" Eric whispered, after noticing the gang of bikers, guns ready.

"What do we do?" Calleigh whispered back

"Don't you think you should have figured that out before all this?!" Another voice whispered from behind them.

The two turned around quickly to see Ryan standing behind them. "What the heck are you doing here?" Eric asked.

"Watching all of you not knowing what you're doing apparently!!" He said harshly.

"You're supposed to be in the hospital!" said Calleigh.

"Amy's supposed to be safe! But we can't all keep our promises, can we?"

"Look," Eric interceded, "We aren't getting anywhere arguing about it. We need to find out something to do, now!"

His walkie-talkie beeped and he pressed the 'listen' button. "Eric," Horatio whispered, "Don't reply, but we've decided to get the bikers from behind. While they aren't looking you and Calleigh take Sarris down as soon as you hear shots."

The pair went towards the front door and Ryan followed close behind. Calleigh turned around and said, "You stay back there!"

He gave her a death glare and she replied, "Fine, just… be careful!!"

The door was still open from where Amy opened it, and the trio assembled themselves into position.

* * *

Ron slowly walked back from the cafeteria, where Ryan sent him to get an extremely complicated order. It had taken 20 minutes to convince the staff it wasn't a joke that is nephew wanted mashed potatoes with carrot sticks, chocolate sauce, and strawberries shaped like a small village on a plate.

He protested when Ryan made the request, but gave in pretty quickly. He didn't have the energy to argue with the most stubborn person on the planet. When he finally reached his room, he opened the door and looked around. "Ryan?" He called out. He looked around some more and said, "Dang it!"

Ryan had left.

* * *

**Teehee I'm mean once again. Next chapter will be pretty exciting though, I promise. :)**

**Heck, I'll probably start on it now. WOOT.**


	21. Folding chair

**:) Thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

Ryan, Calleigh, and Eric waited impatiently outside the door of the warehouse. Eric glanced at Ryan and noticed he didn't look well enough to be doing this, but he couldn't argue with him. He also wondered where he got his gun, though that thought was quickly pushed out of his head.

Surprising everyone, several shots were fired and people started yelling and screaming. Eric and Calleigh swung open the door with Ryan close behind. But they all stopped and looked around, despite the slaughtering of the bikers. Sarris and Amy were nowhere to be found.

Within a few short minutes, half the bikers were dead while the other half surrendered. Ignoring this, the three split up and searched all the rooms.

Horatio yelled at them to wait, but Ryan didn't hear it. He frantically searched every room he came upon as quickly as possible. He flung open the last door on the hallway and saw it.

* * *

Ron ran to the nurses' station and frantically asked what happened to Ryan.

"He said he was being released and he took off…" A spacy blonde told him.

"You didn't check?"

"I was on the computer!" She said defensively.

Ron rubbed his face in frustration. "Did he say where he was going?"

"I wasn't paying attention…I was on Myspace…"

Ron almost decided to threaten her with a law suit, but more pressing matters were at hand. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed Ryan's number, but got the voicemail. He turned back to the ditz and said, "Do you realize what you've done?"

"Chill out man…"

"He woke up from a coma a few hours ago, and now he's out looking for his niece in the middle of the night around a bunch of gang members! With guns!!"

The girl's face twisted, and Ron sighed as he realized she was about to cry. "Just…nevermind. Tell me where his doctor is."

"D…Down the ha..hallway!!" She said, trying to hold back the tears. "I didn't mean to I SWEAR!!" and she dramatically lost control of her sobs.

He darted down the hallway and found Ryan's doctor just as he was exiting his room with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Sir? Where is your nephew?" The calm doctor asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!"

"Did he leave?"

"Apparently!" Ron said sarcastically.

"That's not wise in his condition; he might suffer a relapse…and not wake up…"

Ron sighed for the millionth time in the past 24 hours and sank into a chair. There was nothing he could do.

* * *

Amy's eyes widened as Ryan flew into the room and attacked Ron Sarris. He had perfect timing. Right before the door swung open, Sarris had pinned her against the wall and was breathing into her face. She stopped herself from offering him a breath mint.

She stood there in shock as her uncle and her attacker were rolling around on the floor trying to kill each other. Sarris managed to knock Ryan's hand, and his gun slipped across the floor. Sarris kneeled over Ryan and stuck his own gun to Ryan's head. "This time you're dead for sure!" He screamed. Sarris got off of him and grabbed the other gun.

Amy screamed, "Just stop it! This is so stupid!!"

Sarris turned back to her and growled into her face, "You better shut up!"

"What does it matter? You're gonna kill me anyway!"

"Before I do that I'm gonna teach you a lesson!" He yelled and started grabbing at her clothes.

Suddenly, he fell to the ground with a thud. Ryan had taken a folding chair and hit him over the head with it. While Sarris was still squirming on the ground, Ryan took both the guns from him. "Are you ok? Did he do anything to you?"

Amy just stared with her mouth open and he drew her into a hug. He said, "I'm never letting you go anywhere again!"

* * *

Ron sped as fast as possible to Ryan's apartment. He didn't know exactly what warehouse everyone was in, so he hoped to catch Ryan at home before it was too late. He pulled into a parking space and noticed Ryan's car was gone. How could he have escaped so fast?

He rolled his eyes and put his head on the steering wheel. He thought back to the day Ryan was 16 and wound up on his doorstep in Boston, much like how Amy wound up on her own uncle's doorstep.

"_Ryan? Is everything ok?" Ron asked the teenager in front of him._

"_I just…don't have anywhere to go…"_

_Ron took him inside, out of the snow. "Is this about your dad?"_

"_I just need a place to stay for one night, and I swear I'll be out of your hair!"_

"_You know you can stay here as long as you want, son. What did your dad do?"_

_Ryan looked away and said softly, "I don't want to talk about it…"_

Ron never asked what happened that night; he never asked Ryan anything he didn't want to talk about. Naturally, one night turned into two years, until Ryan moved out for college and Ron decided to move to Miami. He didn't want to leave his nephew, but Ryan had moved out anyway and insisted that he go.

His cell phone rang, and he slowly drew it to his ear, his head still on the steering wheel.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Wolfe," Horatio felt really weird saying that to someone that wasn't Ryan.

"Yeah?"

"Everything is under control. Amy's safe, and if you were wondering, Ryan is too."

"Did you catch that guy?"

"Yes we did, he's on his way to jail right now sir."

"Good."

"We're sending the two of them home, Mr….Ryan refuses to be hospitalized."

"I'm not surprised. But uh…thanks, Horatio."

"It's my job sir, it's my job." He hung up and Ron looked at the phone. Why was he so dramatic about everything?

* * *

**Tada! But it's so not over yet!! Much more excitement to come!**


	22. Back home

**Sorry about the shortness of the last chapter, it felt like I was writing more with all the paragraphs and such. Hopefully this one will be longer!**

* * *

"Ryan," Ron started. "I don't even…" He couldn't think of what to say. His nephew had escaped from the hospital and nearly got himself killed to save his niece. They were sitting in Ryan's living room; Amy had gone up to bed immediately when they got back. After 30 minutes of awkward silence, both of them starting sentences but not finishing them, Ron was getting frustrated.

"You know…" Ryan started, but stopped.

"What you did was…" How long were they going to keep this up?

"I know but…"

"And I was so…"

"I'm sorry but I had to…"

Ron looked at him funny. "How are we having a conversation without finishing sentences?"

Ryan laughed for the first time in a while and said, "I have no idea."

"Look son, what I'm trying to say is, next time you escape from a hospital after being comatose, make sure you let me know."

"You wouldn't have let me go."

"Probably not."

"I'm sorry, I know you were worried, but I had a bad feeling…"

"I know." Ron stopped and smiled. "That was one heck of a food order. It took forever for me to convince kitchen staff I didn't come from the Psych Ward."

Ryan smiled himself. "Well I had to get you out of the way."

"Ryan, just…don't scare me like that again. I know what's done is done, and if you weren't there, she may have been dead, but I thought…I don't know."

Ryan looked at the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you saved her life."

"I was just the first one there."

"But you did."

"Yeah, I guess."

They fell into another period of awkward silence and both of them stared at random things in the room. "I'm glad you're ok." Ron finally said.

"Yeah, me too."

Ron thought for a minute and said, "You know, there's been something I've been wondering for a really long time."

"What's that?"

"What happened that night you were 16 and showed up on my doorstep?"

* * *

John Wolfe sulked back to his jail cell. They figured he was sober enough to go back to a regular jail instead of the rehab facility, much to his dismay. Rehab, though it was tailored for prisoners, was much cushier then the actual jail. They had deemed him clean earlier in the week, and he meant to call Ryan, but he was too embarrassed. He had gone way too far by hitting Amy that night and didn't want his brother reminding him about it. No one felt it necessary to pay his bail, so he was stuck there until his court date.

When he walked in, he realized he got a roommate. "Who're you?" he asked the man on the lower bunk.

"Ron." The man replied, not looking at him.

"You have a last name?"

"Sarris."

John suddenly realized the horrible coincidence. This was the guy his father had been working with!

"You…uh…" He didn't know what to say.

"And your name?"

"Um..." He decided to go ahead and tell the truth. No telling what this guy would do if he found out John lied to him. "Wolfe…John Wolfe."

Sarris bolted straight up and nearly hit his head. "As in George Wolfe's son? From Boston?"

"Yeah…"

"As in Ryan Wolfe's brother?"

"Yeah…"

Sarris wore an evil grin. "I think we'll get along great then…"

John swallowed and said, "Um, what're you in for?"

"Oh everything, you name it, drugs, weapons," He paused for dramatic effect, "murder."

"Who?"

"Nobody important."

"Did you…Ryan?"

"No, that idiot managed to slip between my fingers and betrayed me. You know…he killed your father." Sarris lied.

"What?!" John was completely surprised. No one told him about this. "He…he's dead?"

"Oh yeah. Ryan just walked up to him and fired for no reason. But he told the cops all this hooey about it being self defense."

"Our father wasn't a great guy, but I can't see Ryan…killing him…"

"Well he did. I was there."

John sighed and sat on the floor. "I can't believe this…"

"You know, I've got a plan brewing in my head…" Sarris suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"I want to show Ryan and Horatio that I'm unstoppable. I know a few boys around here that can get me on a safe phone line."

"For what?"

"To avenge myself."

"You're going to plan a hit on my brother?"

"Don't act all hurt. He dissed you all the time!" Sarris lied once again.

"He…he did?"

"Oh yeah, he said you were always a wuss. And you could never refuse drugs or anything and that you became more of a wuss when your wife died."

John felt a pang in his heart. Ever since her death he tried to push all thoughts of his late wife out of his mind. "You're lying!"

"How would you know how he talks about you when you're not there? Has he made any contact with you since you've been in jail?"

"Well, no…"

"You know, I heard he beats the crap out of your daughter, but she has nowhere else to go."

John quickly stood to his feet. "Do you know that for sure?"

"Well, someone told me and I thought, 'no way!' But then I saw this huge bruise over her eye…" Sarris smirked to himself. He should have been a car salesman; this guy was catching his lies hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh my God…I've gotta…What do I do?"

"Work with me, and I'll see that she's safe." Not.

"Fine. Deal."

* * *

Amy lay in her bed wide awake. This had been the most exhausting day of her life, but she was not going to be able to sleep. She reached over to the bedside table when her phone beeped. It was a text message from Ashley.

"_My mom is never letting me out of the house again!!"_

"_You know, my uncle said the exact same thing. :)" _Amy texted back.

"_There's a cop outside my house, and she's worried the neighbors will think we're convicts! OMG! So self-absorbed!!"_

"_So are you ok? After being kidnapped and all?"_

"_Oh yeah, that chick didn't do anything to me, she just threw me in her car and drove. But what about you? What happened at the warehouse thingy?"_

Amy's stomach turned as she thought of that old man pressing her against a wall. _"Nothing. They got the guy pretty quickly. My uncle escaped from the hospital to come save me!"_

"_OMG! LOL! Is he OK?"_

"_Yeah, everyone was kinda mad he left with no notice, but I guess they got over it." _They got over it pretty quickly when he saved her from being raped and killed.

"_Awesome! Well, I G2G, my mom is hearing my phone and keeps barging into my room. I'm grounded. UGHHH!"_

"_K, goodnight."_

Amy closed her phone and put it back on her nightstand. Normally she would have told her best friend every detail, but just thinking about what happened made her want to throw up and crawl in a hole. She never wanted to remember that again.

* * *

"Well that's a random question." Ryan said, looking at Ron.

"Well, you never told me. You know I don't want to push things on you, but…I just wanted to know what finally made you leave home."

Ryan looked at his feet. "He was just…talking trash…"

"About?" Ron hoped his nephew wouldn't get mad; he was never one to share his feelings.

"Just stuff…about my mom, how I shouldn't have…I don't know."

"Shouldn't have what?" He was getting dangerously close to the invisible line of silence.

"Well, he always told me I shouldn't have been…born or whatever, but that night he wouldn't leave it alone and he blamed all his problems with drugs and alcohol and gambling on me…" Ryan felt weird confessing this to someone, even his own uncle. "He just kept throwing things and telling me I was a mistake and I just got sick of it…"

"Oh." Ron didn't know what to say.

"You know, it was really great of you to take me in, I didn't have anywhere to go."

"You did the same thing for Amy."

Ryan slightly smiled as he remembered the night he walked cautiously down his stairs with a bottle of disinfectant in one hand and a gun in the other. "I remembered what it was like."

"You know, what your dad said wasn't true. I don't want you to ever think that."

"I won't." Ryan said softly. He tried as hard as possible to not feel responsible for his mother's death, but after years of hearing it, it was difficult to not believe. As he thought more about it, he felt an overwhelming urge to clean. It had been a few days since he'd been home. There was no telling what kind of dust had been piling up. "I should…clean up or something." He got up and went to the kitchen.

Ron tiredly got up from where he was sitting and went to the kitchen himself. "No you don't. Go to bed and quit being OCD. I told you to take your medicine."

"But…everything's... dirty…"

"No it's not; your brain's just telling you that. Go to bed son, you've had a weird day."

Ryan grunted and started to walk up the stairs. "Night." He said frustratingly.

Ron kept himself from giggling and said, "See you in the morning."

* * *

**Wow! I wrote this one in one sitting! Lol, I have problems. But hey, this one's longer. :)**

**Reviews make my day!**


	23. Can't sleep

**Julie: Ryan's brother and Sarris meeting is right after all the warehouse stuff; it's like, that night he got arrested. :)**

* * *

Ryan lay awake staring at the ceiling, which wasn't surprising. He could never sleep when he was stressed out. He thought of everything that happened the last few weeks, but the main thing that stuck out in his mind was seeing his father clutch his chest and fall to the ground. Ryan didn't even think; he just picked up his gun and shot the man.

Ryan winced as he saw the scene play over and over in his mind. The man had been horrible to him when he was younger, but he felt a pang in his heart as he thought about it. One day when Ryan was a kid, George had won big at a poker game and had a complete change in mood. He took Ryan and John for ice cream, but the boys kept thinking it was some trick. He regretted not enjoying that day, for it was the only peaceful one he had.

That had been the only day George had ever been in a good mood, as far as Ryan could remember. But he felt so guilty, thinking back. Eric deserved to be saved, but Ryan wished it hadn't happened that way. He was disgusted with himself for murdering the man without a second thought.

* * *

Amy bolted upright. About 30 minutes before she managed to fall asleep, but it wasn't peaceful. She had a graphic nightmare of Sarris killing hundreds of people, including Ryan. Then as he was coming towards her, he got next to her face and she felt his hot breath again. She couldn't move when she tried to run and he started to attack her when she woke up.

She decided that falling asleep tonight would not be a good idea. She didn't want to have another nightmare like that. She turned on the lamp and stared at the wall for a few minutes.

She felt so stupid, nothing really happened, but if Ryan had been two seconds late, something would have happened. She shuddered at the thought. It was too uncomfortable to think about.

So instead she focused on keeping herself awake and reached over to the nightstand to turn the lamp on and grab the Bible sitting there. She randomly opened it up to a page and slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Calleigh couldn't sleep herself. The day had been pretty stressful, but she remembered the goodnight kiss Eric gave her before she went home and butterflies came to her stomach. She almost giggled thinking about it, but she had to stop herself, even though no one was in her apartment to hear it.

But then she thought about Ryan. She hoped that he was ok, considering everything that happened. She hadn't had a great childhood either, but her father never abused her. She wished that Ryan had said something earlier. He was probably going through a weird time when he first joined, but she treated him with disrespect until he proved himself that day. But, knowing him, he never revealed anything about himself. She had no clue he had a niece, let alone a sibling until a few years after she met him. Why was he so secretive?

* * *

Ron woke up at 6 in the morning. Ryan's living room couch wasn't a terribly comfortable place to sleep. He was still worried about Ryan being in a coma the day before, so he walked up to his nephew's room and slowly opened the door.

"Yes, I'm awake." Ryan said before Ron even asked. He was lying down, but his eyes were open looking up at the ceiling.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"No."

"You know it's all over, right? You don't have anything to worry about."

"It doesn't really feel that way. Every time I thought it was ok, something else happened again."

"Well, that guy's in jail, everything's over."

"I don't know…"

"Don't waste your energy worrying, Ryan. You can never enjoy life that way."

"I should get ready for work."

"You're not going today."

Ryan stood up and began making his bed, making sure the sheets were straight as a board. "What good will I do by sitting at home?"

"How do you keep forgetting the coma you were in yesterday?"

"What am I supposed to do? Lay here until tomorrow?"

"Run errands, do something, I don't know. But it's too soon for you to go to work. I'm going home, your couch is too stiff."

Ron left and Ryan decided to get up and get dressed. Soon he was downstairs cleaning obsessively. It was only 7 AM, so he didn't want to wake up Amy. The doorbell rang and he flinched.

He walked over and opened it. "Alexx?"

"Baby, why didn't you call me sooner? Horatio told me this morning everything that happened last night! Are you crazy?"

Ryan sighed and opened the door wider. "Come on in."

She did so and put a hand on his face. "Are you feeling ok, baby?"

He chuckled a little and said, "I'm fine Alexx, I swear."

"No you're not, let me make you some chicken soup."

"Alexx!"

* * *

John Wolfe woke up, grumbled, and got out of bed. Sarris was still snoring peacefully. He suddenly remembered everything his cell mate told him the night before and grumbled some more. Sarris came up with some elaborate plan to set up a hit with some gang on the outside. John normally would never dream of doing something like that, but he was still in withdrawal, so his mind was clouded. How could his own brother want him to be clean? It was the only way he could escape the pain. Ryan couldn't possibly understand…

Sarris yawned loudly and got out of bed himself. "Today's the day! As soon as we go to breakfast I'll get my guard buddy to let me use his phone."

"Good."

Soon the alarm for breakfast sounded, and the prisoners lined up. As they were walking towards the cafeteria, Sarris and John ducked into a closet with one of the guards. Sarris quickly made the call, and as soon as they entered, they exited. As they blended back into the line, John almost felt a pang of guilt, but it went away as the stench of jail cafeteria food came flooding into his nose.

* * *

When Ryan finally got Alexx to leave, it was 11 o clock, so he figured he should check on his niece. He softly knocked on her door and got no response. He opened the door slowly and smiled when he saw she was asleep. Unlike him, who could never sleep when anything slightly traumatic happened.

He noticed the book on her stomach and picked it up. His eyes landed on Ecclesiastes 7:14.

"When life is good, enjoy it. But when life is hard, remember: God gives good times and hard times, and no one knows what tomorrow will bring."

He smiled again and hoped that he was entering the 'good times' part of his life. He put it down on the nightstand when the doorbell rang. Amy started to stir, so he tip toed out of the room and downstairs. He opened the door and a fat man in leather and tattoos was glaring at him.

"You Ryan Wolfe?"

"If you're delivering a free pizza, yes. If not, then no." Ryan started to close the door, but the man stopped the door with his strong hand.

"I got something for ya."

"Free pizza?"

"Not quite." The man pulled a large gun from his back pocket and pointed it at him.

Ryan gasped and froze for a moment, but snapped back to reality and grabbed his own gun from out of nowhere.

"Relax, kid. I just gotta message."

"What's that?"

"To watch your back…"

The man walked away, still facing Ryan. He walked all the way out of sight and Ryan slammed the door and called Horatio.

* * *

John picked up the payphone and dialed a familiar number. A distressed voice answered, "Wolfe."

"You know….I thought you were better than that."

"John? Is that you?"

"I mean, when I did it that one time, I'm a big sinner, but I guess its ok for you to do it."

"What are you talking about? I'm kinda busy here…" Ryan looked at Horatio, who got to his apartment in warp speed.

"I heard you've been hitting Amy."

"What?! What are you talking about? Who told you that?"

"Doesn't matter. I also heard about that big bruise on her eye, what's that all about?" His voice wasn't of concern, it was sarcasm.

Ryan sighed. "Who have you been talking to?"

"My new cell mate. He knows you apparently."

Ryan's eyes widened as he figured out who it probably was. "Ron Sarris?"

"Maybe."

"John, he tried to kill her! And me! And my boss! Not to mention plenty of other people! That bruise on Amy's eye came from someone working for him!"

"Are…are you sure?" John was finally showing concern. It was hard to listen to the words of a stranger when his own brother was pleading with him.

"Do you honestly think I would do that?"

John stopped and thought clearly for the first time in nearly a year. "Well..."

"That's right. Now listen, you can't trust Sarris, ok?"

"What do I do?"

"Don't tell him anything. Just pretend like you're still on his side."

"Uh..ok."

"I gotta go, call me tonight."

"Ok.."

Ryan hung up and asked Horatio, "What do we do now?"

"We wait, Mr. Wolfe…" He put on his sunglasses, though still inside. "We wait."

* * *

**Much like you have to wait for the next chapter! Muhahaha! Just kidding, it won't be too long. Heck, I may even write it tomorrow. :)**


	24. Trust Issues

**I know, I know, I'm sorry! I'm such a liar! I've had tons to do lately! Thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

"I just don't want to go, ok? Gosh!" Amy yelled at the person on the phone with her. Ryan and Horatio drug her (practically kicking and screaming) to the lab, where they thought she would be safer. She was sick of being watched over like a hawk. At this moment she was sitting in a row of chairs facing large windows. She waited for the person to respond, and then retorted herself. "Why do you even care? He's not even related to you!"

She didn't notice Ryan had walked up behind her and was eavesdropping. "I'm not going to the funeral!" She kept going. "Nobody should! He was a jerk!" A pause. "I don't care whether that was 'nice' or not. I'm not going!" She slapped her phone shut and pouted at the window.

"Who were you talking to?" Ryan asked.

Amy nearly jumped out of her skin and turned around. "Uh…no one…."

"I really don't think you should be keeping secrets from me at this point, Amy." He said, crossing his arms.

"It wasn't that guy you arrested last night. It was just my…a person."

Ryan didn't say anything, but he stared her down.

"Trust me, you probably don't want to know." She finally said.

"I think I do."

She sighed and decided to give up. She looked all over the place to avoid eye contact. "It was a family member…"

"Your dad?"

"No….more like a great aunt."

"I thought your mom didn't have any family."

She hesitated and looked at the floor. "She didn't."

Ryan looked puzzled for a second and then his eyes widened. "Oh. I see…"

"Uncle Ryan, I'm sorry! I don't talk to them that often, they just keep calling! I mean… I don't know!" She rambled.

"Look, never mind. It's not my business." He said softly and turned to walk away. Amy turned back in her chair and ran her hands through her hair and groaned. She didn't want Ryan to find out that John still had contact with their mother's sisters. Amy herself didn't have much to do with them, but they called constantly. This particular call was in relation to George Wolfe's funeral. She had no clue what would possess them to want to go; probably to come to Miami and nag her some more. She hadn't even thought about a funeral until then. She was always afraid of her grandfather, though they met only 3 times in her life until they moved to Miami. Her great aunts didn't even know that Ryan was the one that shot him.

* * *

John paced around the prison yard. He couldn't digest everything that was happening. He didn't know who to trust. Ryan had taken away the only thing that made him forget about his late wife. How could he trust him? But then how could he trust a cell mate he knew for less than 24 hours?

He looked up and saw Sarris with a group of other prisoners. He had instantly become their best friend. Was he a deceiver or someone he should trust? As soon as Sarris broke away from the other prisoners, he walked up to John.

"I got a call earlier. My man didn't do the job." He sighed and looked angrily at the ground. "He chickened out because Wolfe is a cop. But don't worry, I got a more capable guy on it now."

John felt a faint twist in his stomach. "Actually…Ryan called me earlier…"

"What did he say?"

John decided right then who to trust. "To not tell you anything. And that it was because of you that Amy was hit in the eye." His stomach kept twisting, but he did his best to hide his discomfort.

"Really? Well then. I'm glad you told me."

"I know who to trust."

"You made a good choice."

* * *

"Ryan….you have a really weird life…" Calleigh told him. They were sitting on the steps outside the crime lab. She found him out there and tried to get him to come back in, but they started a conversation.

"Tell me about it."

"Maybe you'll only have to endure a little more weirdness and it'll all be over soon." She smiled at him.

He didn't smile back, but looked straight ahead at the cars passing by. Something inside one of them caught his eye, but he quickly forgot about it. "I hope so."

"Ryan, if you're worried about Amy, she's ok. Probably more safe than we are sitting out here."

"I know, I just…." He stopped. The car he subconsciously eyeballed earlier now had a passenger halfway out the window pointing a gun at them. Ryan felt an awful flashback to the day he was shot and suddenly he felt pain in his chest and couldn't breathe. He pushed Calleigh to the ground as soon as a bullet passed her head, but he couldn't seem to move himself. She got up, whipped out her own gun and shot and the perpetrator. The guy fell out of the car and on the ground . The car sped away without him, and patrolmen came pouring out the doors.

Calleigh looked at Ryan's shocked self and said, "Ryan? Are you ok?"

"Wha…uh…"

"Ryan!" She shouted

"I'm… fine, are you hurt?"

"From you saving my life? No I don't think so!"

"I think we should go inside now…" He said, still in shock.

* * *

"Mr. Wolfe, this is getting out of hand…" Horatio told Ryan after the drive-by was cleaned up.

"I don't know what to do, H."

"We don't…give up."

"Can you quit being vague for one freaking second?" Ryan exploded.

Horatio stood surprised at what he just said. "Um. Ok then. I want you to stay here while I pay a visit to the jail."

"To do what?"

"I'm going to make sure Sarris knows….. who he's dealing with…." Horatio put his sunglasses on his tilted face and walked away.

"You did it again!" an exasperated Ryan yelled after him.

* * *

"I have a plan." John told his cellmate at lunch time.

Sarris laughed and said, "Oh you do?"

Irritated, John replied, "Yeah, and I think you need to listen to it."

"Fine. Go ahead."

"How about we get your guys on the phone and tell them to call the whole thing off. Then I'll call Ryan and tell him that, and he'll be off guard. _Then_ we can call one of your guys after that to finish the job."

"Why not just tell Wolfe that I called it off? It would be dumb to actually do it."

"Because that boss of his will find out!"

"You've got a point there…."

"I say we do it now. The quicker the better."

"Fine."

The two men got up and found the prison guard with a cell phone. As they slipped into a closet, John told the guard to stay outside. "It's already too small in here for us and you need to stand guard anyway."

The guard complied, and Sarris dialed the phone. "Hey Trey, it's me….I need you to do something for me. I wanna call off the hit on Wolfe. It's too risky right now."

John felt like he was going to pee in his pants during the whole call. Sarris continued, "Yeah, I know you've sacrificed a lot, but call it off, will ya? Focus on the X shipment from Cuba. Make sure Caine knows it's over. For real."

He hung up and handed John the phone. "Your turn." He said with an evil grin.

* * *

Ryan sat silently with Amy on the row of chairs. "You know…" She finally said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's no big deal."

"Yeah it is. I shouldn't even be talking to them."

"Well, they don't exactly have it out for you." He said with a faint smile.

She took a deep breath and said, "I don't know what people are telling you, but it's not your fault that…happened."

He didn't say anything so she kept going. "They're not worth your time if they think like that."

He looked at her again and gave another faint smile that quickly faded when his cell phone rang.

"Wolfe."

"Do you ever say hello?"

"What is it John?"

"I uh….just wanted to let you know that Sarris has called the whole thing off."

"What?"

"After what happened this morning he figured it was too risky so he wants to focus on his other….stuff."

"I don't know…"

"Just trust me Ryan."

"Why should I?"

There was a pause and in a hurt voice he said, "You made me trust you."

"Ok, ok. I believe you." He frowned and looked at the number on his phone. "What number is this? This isn't the pay phone from the jail."

"I gotta go."

"John, wait!"

But his brother hung up.

* * *

"Lieutenant Caine, we just received a tip that Sarris' gang gave up on your CSI. An anonymous guard at the prison told us via text message."

"Really? That's interesting…." Horatio responded through his cell phone just as he was parking at the jail.

"It sounds legit, but you make the call."

"Keep Mr. Wolfe safe. Don't let him leave the lab yet."

"Yes sir."

Horatio hung up, got out of his Hummer, and walked in the front doors. The receptionist recognized him and let him through. He walked through the corridors slowly until he heard a commotion coming from a nearly hidden hallway. A frightened prison guard was running away from the direction of a closet door and Horatio reached for his gun. As he approached the closet, he heard two men screaming.

Horatio drew his gun and yelled, "Miami-Dade police! Open the door now or I will!"

No one followed his instruction, so Horatio flung open the door himself, gun in hand. What he saw made him freeze for a moment.

"You're….Ryan Wolfe's brother….and he's…."

The other man stood up, gasping for air, with blood on his hands. "I…he was…" John looked at his hands and nearly had a conniption.

"You…killed Ron Sarris…" Horatio said, stunned for once in his life. He looked at the figure on the ground, a dead, bleeding Ron Sarris with a prisoner-made shank protruding from his chest.

"He was trying to…" John couldn't finish.

"It was…self defense, right?

"What?"

"He drug you into the closet, you found the shank on the floor, and when he tried to hurt you, you used self-defense."

"Uh…"

"You did."

"Ok…"

"Remember that, and you'll be ok."

"Drug me in here, found shank, self-defense." John was still in shock.

"Right…that's exactly what happened."

* * *

**Muahaha! Didn't expect that, did you! :) Sorry it took so long, but I've been insanely busy lately. Only a few chapters left! :( cry**


	25. Oh no!

**:) Reviews are love. I think I might actually write another fic. LOL when I started this I had no idea it would get this far….But this isn't the last chapter!!**

* * *

"What's going to happen?" Ryan asked Horatio in a weak voice after his boss returned from the jail an hour later. They were standing in his office.

Horatio's eyes darted around to make sure no one was listening. "I already told him, it was self-defense. He doesn't need anything like that hanging over him."

"Will they buy it?"

"There's no telling at this point, but I managed to convince the warden."

Ryan sank to a chair and put his head in his hands. "What if they don't believe him?"

Horatio figured Ryan was nearly on the breaking point, so he awkwardly put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Let's….let's not worry about that right now, alright?"

"How is Amy going to react to having a father who's a murderer?"

"I know someone like that who turned out fine."

Ryan looked up at him. "Who?"

Horatio stared at him. Sometimes he could be a little out of the loop. Horatio blamed it on stress. "You, for starters."

Ryan looked down. "Sure, now everyone thinks I'm a jerk, I have OCD, and I can't ever sleep at night. I turned out great."

"Mr. Wolfe….I mean Ryan….Don't beat yourself up. You're a better person than you think you are. And I'm sure your niece would agree."

* * *

"So….what kind of cell phone do you have?" Kyle asked Amy. Horatio had him sent to the lab and now he was sitting next to Amy.

"What?"

"I don't know. The silence felt awkward."

"Ok." Amy was barely paying attention to him.

"So…are you the girl my dad helped rescue last night?"

"Yep."

"Cool."

"Not really."

"Right….." Kyle felt painfully awkward. He was never the one that had to keep conversations going, let alone talk at all. Most of the time people were barking orders at him. "Um…" He struggled to continue, "Do you go to my school?"

She looked at him and almost squinted. "Maybe…I think I've seen you before."

"Mr. Collins' class? You and that Ashley girl escaped the other day?"

"You're in that class?"

"Yeah. You wouldn't know that though, since you and her are constantly talking or falling asleep!"

Amy laughed out loud and said, "Ha….yeah…."

"He was pretty pissed when you guys didn't come back. Let alone not go where you were supposed to."

"We escaped through the air vent." Amy said, smiling.

Kyle's eyes widened. "What? For real?"

"We wound up in a boy's bathroom, but we got out ok."

"All that to avoid detention?"

Amy's smile faded. "Not exactly…there were some guys after us and we had to leave the building undetected."

"Oh…Like a spy movie or something!"

Her smile returned and she said, "Something like that."

"Ms. Hackysack came in the room and flipped out since you guys didn't show."

"Really?"

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, I think she came close to breaking up with Collins, but they went out in the hallway and had a 'talk' for the rest of the period!"

"That's awesome…"

"Everyone was pretty happy you two caused a commotion. He forgot to give us homework."

"We ought to do that more often…"

"How do you get such good grades when I never see you paying attention?"

"I just… study at home. I don't like taking notes."

"And you just remember it all?"

"I come from a family of nerds…" She smiled. She hoped Ryan wasn't within earshot.

"Isn't your uncle one of my dad's CSIs?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"Yep."

They looked away from each other. Things became awkward again.

* * *

Ryan stood from a few feet away, having a hard time not bursting out in laughter. He almost said something when Amy basically called him a nerd, but he wanted to see how the rest of the scene played out. Just as Amy's face was getting red, Eric came up to him.

"Hey, I heard you saved Calleigh today."

Ryan turned to him and said, "Nah, that bullet wouldn't have gotten her."

"She said it went right past her ear as you pushed her down."

Ryan didn't say anything. He didn't want to look like some hero. It was his fault he was too stubborn to go inside with her anyway.

"I just…wanted to thank you." Eric continued.

"Thank my reflexes. I didn't realize I pushed her down until I saw her on the ground."

"Well…thanks. I don't know what I would've done…"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I also heard what happened at the jail. Sounds like your brother got Sarris to call off the hit before he...you know."

Ryan eyes darkened. "That was nice of him."

"Well at least you and your niece are going to be safe from now on."

"I hope so."

"Mr. Wol….RYAN!" Came an exasperated voice.

Both of them jumped and Ryan said, "What's wrong?"

"I need to get used to saying your name…."

"Ok…"

"I came to tell you that it's safe to go home now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Horatio said with his 'end of the day, and I saved the world' smile.

"Good."

* * *

"You are such a…UGH!" Amy yelled in the car. Ryan had been teasing her the entire time about Kyle.

"You didn't even know he was in your class…how sad."

She slapped him on the arm, but he didn't quit. "Or maybe you already had this big crush on him and didn't want to admit it!"

"I don't see why you think this is so funny!"

That only made him laugh even more. "Because it's just so cute!" He said in a mock voice.

"You have problems…"

He stopped laughing for a second, but couldn't help it so he laughed some more.

"Can two people the same age have a conversation without it being romantic? Good GOSH!"

"I saw you blush."

She gave up. She sighed and crossed her arms. "I give up on you."

As they pulled into the parking spot, Ryan noticed a woman standing at his door. "Who's that?" He asked, his tone completely different.

Amy gasped. She could not believe this was happening! "Oh no…."

"Who is that?" He asked again. Ryan was worried the person had something to do with Sarris.

"Oh no…."

He wasn't going to get an answer out of her, so he got out of the car and walked up to the woman. Amy paused for a moment and flew out of the car. "WAAAAIT!" She yelled, but her uncle ignored her.

"Do I know you?" He asked when he approached her.

The startled woman looked at her watch. "Oh …I thought you'd be at work…"

"Were you planning on breaking in?"

"I was here to see Amy…" She said.

Ryan noticed the odd look in her eyes. They looked regretful; almost apologetic. "What for?"

"I really…didn't want to do it this way…"

He looked at Amy. Her eyes were as wide as they would stretch. "Can someone tell me what's going on?"

Amy opened her mouth, but no words would come out.

He looked back at the woman and she spoke. "Ryan…"

"How do you know my name?"

She sighed and looked like she was about to cry. "I'm Cindy."

Amy winced, but noticed Ryan's expression was unchanged. "And?"

"I…don't think he knows your name." Amy said quietly.

Cindy looked back at Ryan. "I'm your mother's sister."

* * *

** WAAAAA! Were you expecting that? Muahahaha! Next chapter soonish!**


	26. Forgiveness

**WOOT! Here I am. Once I start I can't stop haha! LOL I figured Horatio's end of the day smile would get a reaction. But hey, he usually has that look on his face at the end of an episode.**

* * *

"Um…" Ryan stammered. He shifted his weight and looked at the ground. He looked up at Amy and said, "Amy, go inside."

She started to protest, but figured it wasn't the time. She awkwardly walked between the two and went in the apartment, quietly shutting the door.

Ryan sighed and looked at Cindy. In a small voice he said, "What are you doing here?"

She sighed as well and said, "Ryan… I…."

"You what?"

"I don't even know where to start." She looked at the ground and back up at her nephew, but he wasn't going to respond. "I was going to try and get a hold of you later in the day. I would probably be more prepared." She said with a nervous smile.

"You haven't answered my question." He said, not returning one.

"I just…wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"I just…thought it was time."

"I didn't wait 30 years to see Amy."

She looked at the ground again and he almost felt sorry for her. But it quickly faded away.

"Ryan…I don't even know how to begin to…."

"How about that I didn't even know you existed until a few weeks ago."

Her eyes got big. "What?"

"But you've known about me for a while…"

"Look, I know this can't possibly cover it, but I'm sorry, Ryan. I really am."

"Then why did you never contact me until now? Because I _killed _your sister?" He didn't care how insensitive he was. He was good at making people feel bad.

A tear came to her eye and she said, "You didn't…kill her…"

"Then why would you never even let me know you exist? Why would you let me live with someone that beat me practically everyday until I ran away at 16?!" He yelled at her.

"I know…I just…"

"No! You don't know! You just go crying and find someone to blame because your freaking sister died! Well guess what? Worse things have happened!"

He almost went inside and slammed the door in her face, but he figured he should let her have one last word.

"There was…no excuse for it…" She sighed. "But you're right. I found the first person to blame and it was so stupid…My other sister went along with it and we just…held a grudge for a few years…"

"Am I supposed to feel bad for you or something?"

"No. Look, I'll leave now. I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry. And if you ever want to find it in your heart to forgive me, I'm here. But I won't blame you if you don't." She turned to leave, but Ryan stopped her.

"And your other sister?"

"She doesn't really…see things the way I do." She turned again, and went to her rental car.

Ryan opened his door and caught Amy by the arm as she was flying low up the stairs. "I was…getting water from the kitchen! I swear!! I didn't hear anything!!" She yelled, fear in her eyes.

He laughed at her expression, despite what had happened. "Chill out." He let go of her arm and she looked at the stairs, tempted to flee again.

"Did you hear all of it?"

Her eyes were all over the place as she said, "I….NO!"

"You lie worse than I do…"

"I couldn't help it! You were kinda loud…."

His smile faded and he said, "Well…."

"I don't really blame you but…I think you should give her a chance…"

"She's had a while to get that chance."

"Better now than when you're 50."

"It would have been nice to have more than one family member I could count on growing up."

"I know, but…Just think about it."

"Have you kept in contact with the other one?"

"Only when she calls me…"

"Why would you keep this whole thing a secret from me?"

She looked at her feet. "I just…didn't want you to feel bad that they talked to my dad, but not you."

Her dad. Ryan hadn't told her exactly what happened at the jail. "Amy…sit down for a second." He looked at her face and rolled his eyes. "You're not in trouble."

She sat at the kitchen table and he took the seat across from her. "You know how I told you that Sarris guy died today?"

"Oh my gosh, he's still alive!?"

"Wha…no, no, he's… dead. There's just something you need to know about it…"

"What's that?"

"Well, your dad was the one that…."

"Killed him?"

"….yeah…."

"What?"

"Sarris tried to attack him and your dad used self-defense." It was a lie, but she didn't need to know that.

"Is he going to get in trouble?'

"Probably not. Horatio saw the whole thing, so he can be a witness. But…I'm afraid he's going to be in jail for a while…"

"Like how long?"

A few clicks were heard at the door and they both looked at it. A moment later, the door opened and Ron stood up saying, "Heh…still got it…"

"So you break into people's houses now?" Ryan said, standing up.

"Just yours." Ron smiled, but it went away quickly. "You'll never guess who I saw driving out of here."

"I bet I can…"

"Did she talk to you?"

* * *

Kyle sat at home staring at the wall. He wondered if he should text Amy, but he didn't know if it would look to desperate. "Son?" Horatio came in his room.

"What's up?"

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know…"

"Thinking about Amy?" Horatio had a funny grin on his face.

How did his father have a sixth sense about everything? "Maybe…."

Horatio had to resist from laughing. It was just too cute. His thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone. After a few minutes, he hung up; his expression much different than the one before.

"What's wrong, dad?"

"The DA thinks that John Wolfe set out to kill Ron Sarris. They're going to charge him with murder…."

"How can they do that? Didn't you see the whole thing?"

Horatio sighed and looked at the ground. "Um…"

"Did you…lie about it? Just to protect your CSI?"

"It's much more complicated than that, son."

"This is so stupid! Why do you get to bend the rules all the time?"

"Not this time, Kyle."

* * *

Amy and Ashley walked into Mr. Collins' class early and Amy grimaced. She wasn't looking forward to explaining everything to her teacher, but she had to, so she approached his desk. Ryan argued with her over and over that morning about not going, but she felt useless sitting at home doing nothing.

"Mr…?" She stopped. He was staring at a rather unflattering picture of the principle. He looked up slowly and flinched.

"Amy! What are you doing here? Weren't you kidnapped or something?"

"Kinda….how would you know about that?"

"I saw it all on the news last night. That Erica Sykes girl is a great reporter…."

"It was on the news?!"

"Yep. She said that some CSI has a dysfunctional family and he's been putting you in danger. I was eating spaghetti, I wasn't really paying attention."

"That's not nice!" Ashley chimed in.

"That's not even true! He took me in after…"

"Amy, why are you here so early?"

"To explain why I had to leave class the other day."

"Well, that's odd. Some guy with red hair came in and threatened that if I don't let you pass, he'll find something I did in a past life and tell my girlfriend. He looks sorta like that Kyle kid that sits on the other side of the classroom."

"Well….ok then…." The girls walked back out into the hallway

"I guess he's too obsessed with his girlfriend to care! This is like Nickelodeon!" Ashley laughed.

"How did that news chick he was talking about find out about everything?"

"I don't know, I don't watch the news…Hey I have an idea! Let's skip school again and go to the news station!!" But the look on Amy's face suggested that wasn't the greatest plan.

"Heyyy…" An awkward voice came from behind them. The girls turned around and saw a nervous Kyle. But his shoulders lowered a bit when Amy gave him a warm smile.

"What are you doing here so early?" She asked.

"I should ask you the same thing."

"I had to talk to Collins about our little…escapade the other day. What about you?"

"My dad had to drop me off early. He has a bunch of important stuff to do, I don't know."

"Who are you again?" Ashley asked.

"This is the kid whose dad threatened Mr. Collins."

"That was your dad?"

"He threatened him? Weird. Kinda cool, but weird."

* * *

Ryan sat in the chair and waited for the guards to bring his brother out. They almost denied Ryan's request to visit him, but he flashed his badge and the guards let him through. Ryan didn't know why he was scared; but the thought of his brother being a murderer wasn't a pleasant thought. Ryan dealt with murderers everyday and it never bothered him. But today was different.

He picked up the phone and slowly put it to his ear when the guard led John to the chair. The two brothers stared at each other for a minute until John finally spoke.

"Um…So I guess you heard what happened…"

"Yeah…"

"They don't believe me."

"I know."

"What am I going to do? They're going to give me the chair with all the other charges I have against me!"

"They uh…they don't do the electric chair anymore…" It wasn't very comforting, but it was the first thing that came to his mind.

"Regardless…"

"Look, you don't know how the trial is going to go."

"Yes I do."

"Just because the DA wants to charge you, that doesn't mean you can't convince them it wasn't self-defense. There wasn't a camera in that closet, was there?"

"No…"

"And Horatio will say he saw the whole thing."

"Isn't that lying?"

Ryan sighed. "We don't have any other choice."

"Does Amy know?"

"She only knows what we've been telling everyone else."

John sighed. "Good."

"I don't think we should tell her the whole thing."

"Does she ever…say anything about me?"

"Sometimes."

"Like what?"

"Not much. I can't get her to talk about anything she doesn't want to talk about. She's worse than some of the suspects I interrogate." He said with a half-smile.

"You think she'll ever call or visit or anything?"

"I don't know. If she does it will be a long time…"

"Why?"

"Do you remember anything that happened?"

"I just want to apologize…I don't blame her if she doesn't forgive me, I just want to see her."

Where had Ryan heard that before? He felt a twinge of guilt remembering how awful he was to his aunt. "Well…I'll talk to her…" He knew she would try and make him talk to his aunt if he did that.

"Will you…tell her I'm sorry?"

"Yeah…yeah I will."

"I don't want to be like dad..."

**Well this was a little longer than expected! Sorry it wasn't totally action packed! But whatever. We're getting closer to the end! cries  
**

**BUT, I have officially decided: A sequel is in the works!! p.s. for those at TalkCSI, I got the age messed up according to that episode! LOL! And I'm sure you noticed the lock picking thing! :) I just had to...  
**


	27. Confession

**:) HAHA...Ron and his lock picking heehee! BTW, if any of you have seen the spoiler video Hcrazy put on TalkCSI…1: WOW!! And 2: My fic is so completely opposite of what happens!!**

* * *

Ryan looked at the door in front of him. 432. He said the numbers in his head about 15 times; his OCD mixed with nerves were taking over. Why was he even here? He's the one who was alone for so long, not her. She abandoned him, not the other way around. But in order to get Amy to talk to her dad he knew he had to do this. Plus he felt horrible for yelling at Cindy the way he did. His mother would not be proud. But how could he even know? It was better for Cindy to see him now then when he was much older. He closed his eyes and knocked on the door.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" He heard her say. His stomach twisted in knots and he contemplated the quickest escape route. But before he could bolt, she swung open the door.

"Ryan!" She said with a smile, and he immediately felt a little better, though his face wasn't showing it.

"I'm a big jerk…" He said with his head down. He wished that whole fiasco never happened.

"No you're not. If I was you I would have used a lot more profanity, trust me." She said, still smiling.

He looked up at her smile and noticed she faintly resembled the pictures he'd seen of his mother. "I'm really sorry…"

"Don't be. I'm the one who is sorry, Ryan. Both of us promised your mom we would be there for you but…I don't know, we got angry and sad about it. There's no excuse… Look, why don't you come in?"

He followed her inside the rather spacious room and sat on a chair. "I shouldn't have said that stuff yesterday. I didn't mean it."

"I'm glad you're here, Ryan. I couldn't ask for anything more."

"Why did you come to Miami?"

"We told Amy we were coming for the funeral and weren't going to be around you. Well, that's what Patty thought too."

"So…my other aunt is here?" He looked around the room, praying she wasn't.

"She's in another room. I...didn't tell her about yesterday."

"So…you guys are both going to the funeral?"

"Patty is. She thinks I'm going as well, but I don't think that's a great plan."

He stared at her for a moment, and almost smiled. Something in the way she said that comment reminded him of Amy. "Uh...yeah. Neither do I."

"Did they ever find out who shot him?"

Ryan looked at his feet and felt tears come to his eyes, but managed to control it. With his head still down he said quietly, "It was me…"

"What?"

"It's a long story…He was aiming at a colleague of mine and I had to stop him." He was hoping he could just push that whole day out of his mind and not have to deal with it anymore. That was how he always dealt with his problems, and it mildly worked.

"Oh…. I didn't know that…"

"Amy doesn't even know."

"Are you…ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, lifting his head up.

She could tell it was a lie. His mother lied exactly the same way. Badly. "Well then. Would you like to know about your mother's life?"

He smiled and said, "Yeah, I would."

* * *

"We're gonna get in so much trouble!" Amy yelled at Ashley. They were in the CBS news station, hunting down Erica Sykes.

"We've done worse!"

"What if my uncle finds out we snuck into a news station? What if they arrest us?"

"Hey! There she is!" Ashley said and took off running in the direction of a severe-looking blonde reporter. "Hey you!!" She yelled.

Erica scowled and said, "Who are you?"

When Amy caught up, Ashley said, "You're a stinking liar!"

"What?"

"You did some story on her uncle and it was full of lies you stupid bimbo!" Ashley yelled while security was making their way towards them.

Erica looked at Amy and said, "Oh…you're Ryan Wolfe's niece…"

"Can you just…not do a story about him? Or me?" Amy said pleadingly.

"And why is that?"

"Because it's humiliating and it wasn't even true!"

"You know…I never even knew he had a niece until last week."

"You actually know him?"

Erica laughed and said, "We dated a couple years ago!"

Amy looked at Ashley and back at the reporter. "No you didn't…."

"I guess he didn't tell you." She said smartly.

"But…you look like a dog!" Ashley blurted out.

"Ok, get out now!" Erica snapped.

"Is this why you were doing that story? Because you broke up or something? What are you, 13?" Amy said.

"Is should say the same." Erica crossed her arms and glared.

"Well that answers my question." Amy rolled her eyes and grabbed Ashley's arm. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Kyle tried to occupy himself with the TV, a few books, and a deck of cards; but he couldn't help himself. He picked up his phone and sent a text message.

"_My dad told me about your dad."_

A few moments later he got a response. _"Ugh. And no one will believe it was self-defense! I mean, would he really drag someone in a room and kill him for no reason?"_

"_I heard he did…."_

"_My uncle told me it was self-defense!"_

"_My dad said it was a set-up murder and they would claim self-defense."_

"_Are you serious?"_

"_Yeah…"_

Kyle stared at his phone and frowned when he didn't get a message within the next few minutes. Then he looked up and gasped. What was he thinking? Amy obviously didn't know her dad set out to murder a man, and he just blabbed it! He was going to be in so much trouble…

* * *

Amy sat at the kitchen table and frowned. After messaging Kyle, she sent Ashley home and waited for Ryan. When he walked in the door she glared at him.

"Hey…shouldn't you be doing homework or something?"

"Shouldn't you be telling me the freaking truth?!"

"What…."

"My dad _did_ set out to kill that guy, it wasn't self-defense! What else haven't you told me? Am I really an adopted child from Africa?"

"I'm gonna have to say no on that last one…"

She rolled her eyes and put her head on the table. "What is your problem?!" She yelled at the table.

He sighed and said, "Look, I'm sorry. But I didn't think you needed to know."

She looked up quickly. "Why? Because I'm a four-year-old?"

"I just…didn't know how you would take it."

"I would've taken it better if you would have just told me the truth, instead of finding out through a text message!" She said, lifting her head up.

Ryan frowned. Text messages were getting too cryptic these days. "I'm sorry." He changed the subject. "Guess who I talked to today?"

"Erica Sykes?"

"What?"

"Nevermind. Who?"

"Cindy."

"For real? What happened? What did she say? What did _you_ say?"

"We…worked things out."

She smiled. "Good. As long as Patty doesn't know I think we're good."

"So…now that I've talked to her, I think you need to talk to someone."

She frowned. Who could he possibly be talking about? Then it hit her. "NO! No way!!"

He sat down at the table with her. Apparently this was the 'serious conversation' table. "He really wants you to."

"I don't care!"

"Amy, he's not like your grandpa. Granted, he did do some bad things, but he's really sorry about it."

"No he's not…"

"Look, he's going to be in jail for…a long time, and he just wants to see his daughter."

"I don't know…."

"If I can talk to my aunt, you should definitely be able to talk to your dad."

"I think you're making all this up. He doesn't want to see me!"

"I'm not lying this time. I talked to him today. I think you really need to go."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine…"

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter was a little boring! Next chapter should be nice and angsty though! HAHA!**


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